I recently bought a pair of wireless headphones. I can leave my cell phone or get up from the computer and walk around the apartment without having to remove the headphones or stop what I'm listening to. This slight increase in convenience doesn't seem like a big deal, but I've come to define these headphones by more than their lack of cord. They are my first step towards becoming a cyborg. In the near future Google Glass and others similar will only increase this cyborgity.
A cyborg is usually defined as an organism that has enhanced abilities due to built-in technology. Yes, headphones and Glass aren't built-in, but for all functional purposes, they may as well be. Disregarding medical and surgical details, the difference to the end user between headphones with a cord and that without are more numerous than the difference between wireless headphones and an ear implant. It's all about the cord and the control mechanism. By not being tied to a computer which is stuck on a table or plugged into a wall, the headphones become a part of me as much as my clothes or a tooth filling.
The image of cyborgs being human flesh grafted with steel causes us to miss the reality of cyborgs that exist now. Research is being done on brain control of foreign objects, but in the meantime, Google Glass and similar devices will push us towards being a different type of cyborg. Putting computers between the world and someone's perception of it, and
allowing remote control of computers is more than enough.
Currently, I use hard disks for much of my long-term memory. I store the memories of trips, events, people, and more in the form of pictures, sounds, and writing. Because I know these memories are stored and easily accessible, I spend less time maintaining them than I would otherwise. My memory is poor, but I'm not afraid about forgetting because I have the disks. Something cataclysmic could occur to destroy these disks, but this is no different than the risk to the brain.
Like the wireless headphones, eventually devices will create a direct link from computer cloud memory to an attached device and this will further convince my brain to rely on an external device and memory. Growing up I dreamed of having a photographic memory. Before long, it will be as if I do.
