[hackerspaces] Hearing aids

[B F]

No doubt a lot of you are young, but there are lots of oldsters out
there.  The comment below came from a NYT article on hearing aids:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/the-hunt-for-an-affordable-hearing-aid/

Okay, that's a challenge.  Hack into earphone software and hardware so
folks can do their own adjustments.

----

I have hearing loss in one ear, and using my iPhone, with an app and
earbuds, works better than my $2,500 hearing aid in many situations.
Hearing aids are a complete ripoff, and somebody's getting rich on
them. Insurance won't cover them, and my experience with audiologists
has been uniformly lousy. Once they sell me a hearing aid, they're
pretty much done with me.

I'd be better off if I could adjust the aid on my home computer,
instead of having to hook it up in the audiologist's office and
letting him or her manipulate the software. But I can't do that,
because each company apparently uses a different type of software and
a different cable to plug into the hearing aid from the computer. And
of course, it's all proprietary, and only audiologists can get the
software and cables.

The last time I had it adjusted, I had to show the audiologist how to
do something on the software. I'm pretty computer-savvy, but please --
give me a break.

So, yeah, I'm going to Costco next time. I hope as more and more
boomers get deaf that we do something about the price of these things.
But I'm afraid it's more likely the hearing aid companies and many
audiologists are rubbing their hands in glee, hoping for more profits.