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You are correct, but that may be a thing of the past. My niece is seeing researchers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts who are working on, get this, eye drops that repair damaged rods and cones in the retina. They've been successful in lab tests and animals, and now have FDA approval for tests on people. You're right in cases of damage to the optic nerve, but many who are blind from birth have just damaged retinas (like my niece).

If one has a functioning optic nerve, they are already developing microchip technology that will rest on the back of the eye and act as a prosthetic retina, they've already done it, saw it on Discovery a while back. The image they can get is only a 9 pixel (3x3 grid) image, but once the transmission method is good, they can always increase the complexity of the pixel grid. My digital camera from just a year ago is already outdated in the amount of megapixels that it can receive; I have no doubt that these "eye chips" will also increase in resolution. Just think of how far technology came in just the last decade; we can't even begin to imagine what kinds of new tech will be there in 18 years when my niece graduates from high school.

Also, don't forget demographics; the baby boom generation is getting older, and billions of dollars will be poured into the medical establishment and medical research because of it. If you thought the WWII generation spent money on medical care (and thereby fueling medical research), you haven't seen anything like what their kids are going to spend.

I have no doubt the technology will be there to see, but that is not the problem. The problem is the neuro pathways that are developed in the brain. You can send a visual signal to the brain but if the pathways are not their ( blind from birth) the signal means nothing.
Even children born a few months old that have lost their sight do to disease or accident if through transplant can regain their sight because the brain has has that kind of stumulus.
I could be wrong here but I think that is the issue here, there is no way to restart or create new paths if their werent any. Like the article says... the guy can not distinguish between man woman, and some shapes.... that is not a sight issue it is an intereptation issue. I pray that i am wrong