6 million dollar man

[Spongebob]

I just saw a post on Instagram about the six million dollar man, that TV show from the 70's.  I remember watching the show as a kid and marveling at the possibilities.  Since that time I've read numerous popular science articles predicting the advent of similar technologies.  But where are they?  Do we actually have anything remotely resembling the technology employed for Steve Austin?  Prosthetic limbs have come a long way since then but they are far short of the show's concept.  Will we ever develop technologies that resemble the show?  And put aside the obvious limitations of real physics for a moment.  We all know that attaching a robotic arm to someone's shoulder would not allow them to lift hundreds of pounds without tearing the arm off his shoulder.  Will we ever have bionic arms that look and feel like flesh and obey our commands just like a real arm?  Bionic eyes, ears?  Anything?  Or is this just a dead end technology and is the best hope for restoring damaged body parts cloning/growing new parts?

[Brian37]

I just saw a post on Instagram about the six million dollar man, that TV show from the 70's.  I remember watching the show as a kid and marveling at the possibilities.  Since that time I've read numerous popular science articles predicting the advent of similar technologies.  But where are they?  Do we actually have anything remotely resembling the technology employed for Steve Austin?  Prosthetic limbs have come a long way since then but they are far short of the show's concept.  Will we ever develop technologies that resemble the show?  And put aside the obvious limitations of real physics for a moment.  We all know that attaching a robotic arm to someone's shoulder would not allow them to lift hundreds of pounds without tearing the arm off his shoulder.  Will we ever have bionic arms that look and feel like flesh and obey our commands just like a real arm?  Bionic eyes, ears?  Anything?  Or is this just a dead end technology and is the best hope for restoring damaged body parts cloning/growing new part

An aside. I loved that show. I actually loved The Bionic Woman more. My favorite character was Max, her dog. I loved it when the bad guy threw a billiard ball at Max, and he caught it in his jaws and crushed it. 

Another aside. I really hate how CG has taken over TV and Hollywood. Today for me, watching TV and movies feels like playing an X-Box. Back then shows like that relied on stuntmen and camera angles and editing tricks. 

I see your post much like I see Star Trek. You can't treat a TV show, mere entertainment as being a scientific lab. It is absolutely true that art inspires innovation. But that art should never be confused as being a literal prophecy or lab. For everything humans dream of, the patent office is far more full of things that fail than succeed. 

Gene Roddenberry DID NOT invent the cell phone. Microwave communication technology existed even in WW2. Businesses are always looking to improve technology and make it more compact to save money on labor and resources. Otherwise the makers of "Back To The Future" own the patent on flat screen TVs. As to which I would respond, that at the end of The Wizard Of Oz, the gang faces the giant round but FLAT screen TV, makes them the original inventors.

Art certainly can inspire innovation, but it should never be confused with science or patents.

[brewer]