Bluetooth implants: Why not?

Question: How did the Borg--the not-so-lovable cyborgs in Star Trek--get to be that way?

Answer: it all started with Bluetooth headsets.

I see more and more people walking around with Bluetooth headsets lodged behind their ears every day. Most states are passing hands-free laws for drivers. Even my technophobe wife wants one.

I could be wrong, but I think it's only a matter of time before some enterprising startup comes up with an implantable device.

Not being a biotech guy, I'm not really equipped to judge the biological challenges of such a thing. But on the tech side, the only significant problem I can think of is designing it to be upgradeable so you don't need surgery every time the standard is updated or, God forbid, there's a new standard.

I guess a smart card slot or something similar might do the trick.

As for the demand side of the equation, here's what I'm thinking. Lots of people seem to be willing to go under the knife for elective cosmetic surgery. Who would have thought there'd be so many vain people? I've got to believe there are at least as many folks who are pragmatic, efficient and geeky to the point of undergoing a little snip snip or nip tuck or whatever they call it.

If the device is well-designed, the procedure is relatively safe, and the whole package isn't too pricey, voila, you've got a market.

And that's just the beginning. I can envision an entire line of implantable products, from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transceivers to language translators and heads up displays. How about DC power plugs? What, you didn't know that people can generate their own electricity? Isn't that what the bad guys did with the entire human race in The Matrix?

Where will it all end? I don't know, maybe combining cosmetic surgery with techno-implants to create human advertisements. How much would it take to turn you into a walking iPhone?

Mark my words: the geeks of today will be the Borgs of tomorrow.

[dipinj]

The geeks of today, create / invent most of this stuff. Therefore, they probably will not be the guinea pigs for this type of market. Think about it like this; how many plastic surgeons do you know that have had plastic surgery? Not many. The reason being, once you've been behind the scenes; you realize all of the cons (not just the pros)...

[jwissing]

I could see this happening easily, we already implant pacemakers and defibrillators in the body. My neighbor has a combination pacemaker/defibrillator that keeps the heart activity in memory and she goes to the doctor once a month where they do a memory dump using a wand placed close to the body. The readout tells the doctor exactly how her heart and the device acted with no pain or fuss involved.

[nukadog]

Talk about a security hole...just sayin'