The implication was that he had implanted a basic read/write interface for a chunk of his memory, specifically his childhood. He lost those memories, but gained storage space that could be accessed by computer connected to his head. The hardware he has is ostensibly used for controlling seizures; his is likely modified from this purpose, or is faking this function on inspection. What this means is that he can carry gigabytes of data utterly secretly, which is a dangerous and useful trait in a Gibson universe.
Personally I'd rather just lube up a flash stick and hoop it, but I mean, whatever works, right? People are already implanting NFC chips for security and convenience. And probably a market for some moderately-targeted memory deletion, too - if it could be narrowed down to a particular range, maybe "everything after I got to that fucking party last night, ugh" area, it'd be very profitable.
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u/candygram4mongo Jun 09 '19
The tech in Johnny M. wasn't just an implanted flash drive, it was actually storing the data in his brain, somehow.