Britt Young is a geographer and tech writer based in the Bay Area. She also has what's called a "congenital upper limb deficiency." In other words, she was born without the part of her arm just below her left elbow. She's used different sorts of prosthetic devices her whole life, and in 2018, she celebrated the arrival of a brand new, multi-articulating prosthetic hand. This prosthetic hand has a sleek carbon fiber casing, with specific pre-programmed grips that she can control just by flexing the muscles in her residual limb. She can use a precision pinch to pick a hairpin off of the table, or a Hulk-style power fist to squeeze objects. This kind of assistive technology has been life-changing for a lot of people who have limb differences. But for Britt, in particular, it hasn't been life-changing at all. In fact, her cutting-edge bionic arm has been a pretty major disappointment. "It's just not what you imagine. It's not like I'm like everyone else now, it's something different."
The Lows of High Tech
465- Shirley Cards
464- Finding Julia Morgan
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323- The House that Came in the Mail Again
460- Corpse, Corps, Horse and Worse
459- Yankee Pyramids
458- Real Fake Bridges
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453- The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food
451- Hanko
450- Stuff the British Stole
449- Mine!
448- Katie Mingle's Right to Roam
447- Flag Days: The Red, the Black & the Green
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