Semi-off-topic, and this obviously isn’t Pondsmith’s intent, but this has me thinking of cyberware as a metaphor for capitalism. Capitalism has reshaped or destroyed many social bonds, breaking down communities to a series of untethered individuals, free from distractions and therefore able to be worked longer and harder. Cyberpunk takes this alienation to the next level: even breaking down to the individual is not enough, and they must be further divided down to their constituent parts, which will be replaced with more “useful” pieces.

I suppose this is all fairly fundamental to the genre but it’s telling that I’ve never thought of it on these terms until now.