We all know about the stigma associated with wearing hearing aids and how long it takes for the average person with hearing loss to accept they need help. With the aging baby boomer population increasingly suffering from hearing loss (and ignoring it), perhaps the high tech, “cool” factor of Made-for-iPhone® hearing aids will finally change those age-old perceptions.
Julio O’Jeda of the St. Paul Pioneer Press certainly thinks so. In his recent article, “Bluetooth hearing aids could take off with baby boomers”, he mentions the association of hearing aids with the Apple brand as a potential motivator for adoption. And that’s what hearing aids need. They should be viewed as personal enhancement devices, rather than a “treatment” for an age-related health problem. Besides, we all know that hearing loss can occur at any age for a multitude of reasons.
According to an article on SFGate.com, Made-for-iPhone hearing technology has come at the right time. “Everybody’s walking around with more computer power than they need in their smartphones,” said Thomas Gunderson, a senior health care analyst. “We’ve got a market where 10,000 Baby Boomers are turning 65 every day. We finally have cracked the battery problem. I think it all comes together, and it makes sense that Apple is a leader here.”
What do you think? Will people be more open to using hearing aids now that they can work with a cool new app?
2 thoughts on “Does Apple Make Hearing Aids Cool? We Think So.”
I like the app but to a tech guy I would like more ability to control and wreak my settings. That is available on the 9 series. I understand my audiologist can tweak more setups. I wish I could have more than 4 programs or know how o emulate the various programs on the app. E.g. By reducing Bass while driving emulates Traffic program. I am not sure if it’s a memory issue in the HA that limit user to 4 programs. I know most users will get confused and lost. Perhaps an Advanced mode for power users? I love the Link2 and would love to learn more and help improve your product.
Thank you for your input! We will pass along to our developers your suggestions of more than 4 programs and a separate, more advanced version of the app. We constantly strive to improve and broaden the features and functionality of our hearing aids and input from hearing aid users is always welcome and helpful.