This is why you can buy 'hearing aids' from costco now, without ever seeing an audiologist.
I think this is great that the tech is more accessible, IF the consumers are informed about how and why things changed.
Adam Currey (of the No Agenda podcast / headbangers ball fame) did a really good critique about this when it happened, and it was one of Nancy Pelosi's pet projects that made her a bunch of money.
He made a strong case (as a person deaf in one ear and an audio specialist given his work with tech, MTV, inventing podcasts, and suffering from hearing issues himself).
I would be very very wary of any device claiming it is a hearing aid that is not tuned by an audiologist, as you may just make your hearing problem worse.
This is what set this trainwreck into motion (picked at random with a quick search): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/health/fda-hearing-aids.h...
When you just change the definitions of words for everything and anything, all the sudden nothing matters because nothing can be trusted.
My parents just got absolutely robbed buying hearing aids for my great aunt that I’m sure cost in the tens of dollars to manufacture.
Let consumers test out the low and high end options to determine if the low end is good enough for their use case.
I'm all for easier access to medical assistance devices -- I am against the erosion of established terms for political points, especially when it leads to ridiculous statements like you just made:
"My parents just got absolutely robbed buying hearing aids for my great aunt that I’m sure cost in the tens of dollars to manufacture." -- this shows you know nothing about hearing aids and the absolute bleeding edge technology that goes into real ones.
I'm sure it cost a lot and it hurt to pay the price. I'm not arguing these products shouldn't be available -- I'm arguing it's essentially false advertising to lump them in with 'hearing aids' especially with the FDA badge of approval.
Give the consumers choice - but don't hide that choice behind falsely equating the product classes. Make it clear they are in fact getting lower end everything, and that's why the price is so low. And make it clear that without an audiologist, you are at risk of damaging your own hearing and eliminating or worsening additinoal frequencies if tuned improperly.
Then let the consumer decide. Simple.
They are then marked up 1,100%.
If this new AirPods feature helps me hear better it quite literally becomes a device that ‘aids’ my ‘hearing.’ Why should Apple or others be forced to claim otherwise? Why should consumers have to learn a new term? Because it upsets companies enjoying over 1,000% markups? No thanks.
I might be wrong here, but I believe the Apple feature will do a hearing test on your phone to see which frequencies you can still hear, and then calibrate the hearing aid to only apply to the areas where it would be safe/effective to boost.
Please take this with a grain of salt, since I don't know all the facts here, but I think this basically addresses your concern.
It's great that apple is offering this, I am not opposed to that at all. I am opposed to them changing definitions for political points, resulting in a degradation of the meaning of the original term.
If they called it 'hearing assistant' or something else that makes it clear there is a real difference in these cheap / low end products rather than expanding the term to include everything under the sun that can amplify sound it would be different.
They are basically tricking consumers into believing that suddenly hearing aid technology and audiologists are not necessary at all, and I guarantee it is going to result in many people further damaging their hearing as a result.
Can you share more info about that? I'm open minded but skeptical. What about the speakers and microphones is way better? Speakers and microphones are certainly in the category where a high price doesn't necessarily reflect higher quality.
To give folks a sense of the cost difference, here are some numbers:
My most recent pair of hearing aides cost $4,400 in 2020. And no, these are not covered by any kind of insurance.
AirPods Pro 2 cost $250, about a 95% reduction in price.
My most recent service on one of my hearing aides that was failing cost $280.
Also, I'm really looking forward to being able to manage things like audio curves myself, vs having to go through an audiologist for every adjustment.
The only thing I'm waiting for here before making a switch is better battery life, really want 18/24hours there.
Plus hearing loss is a major risk factor for dementia. So this is big!
Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus
More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491191
