Keep on Grumping

Hey Guys, I love your show. I look forward to listening to it every Saturday morning over breakfast. As someone who worked in IT for over four decades, I agree with your observation that nothing has changed in 11 years. It seems that every few years we have this exciting new technology or paradigm that’s “world-changing” that either turns out to be more technology snake oil, or is just another flavour of an idea that’s been around for decades.

On your last episode, Jason was asking how to get old people to get and wear their hearing aids. As someone who has worn hearing aids for over a decade I understand. They can be a hassle. While they’re have been improvements in the last few years, such as the transition from disposable batteries (those were tiny and tough to swap when your dexterity is reduced) to lithium rechargeable batteries, they are higher maintenance than glasses. You have to remember to charge them, they require lots of cleaning (ear wax, yuck!) and the replacement parts like in-ear domes and receiver wax guards are a hassle. It was frustrating for me and I was in my 50’s - I can’t imagine dealing with them in my 70’s.

Not to mention they are expensive - thousands of dollars for a good pair. My company benefits only covered about half the cost. And they don’t “correct” your hearing the same way that glasses correct your vision. They just compensate for the loss by blasting the higher frequency sounds into your ear. While I found it hard to get through the work day without them, once I retired I found myself wearing them less and less, and now only put them in if I’m going into a challenging environment with lots of background noise, like a shopping mall or sports arena. So maybe Apple is on to something.

Anyway, keep up the great work!