@jxf @pluralistic yes, I’ve previously read about the terrible consequences for users of experimental bionic implants when venture capitalists get bored with the research project because it’s not being rolled out quickly or widely enough to be profitable to them. Then they pull the funding and the devices can’t be replaced when they stop working

From memory I have read separate stories about a bionic eye implant and a spinal implant. At least one recipient was an engineer who has taught themselves to repair and retrofit their own device, but what makes this so devastating is that in some cases, the surgery to install the device was so invasive that without it now they are worse off than if they’d never got it in the first place

It’s real dystopian cyberpunk stuff