When I was young (oh here we go!) hearing aids were called deaf aids (and could be seen from outer space!).
Was it political correctness or PR spin that made it change?
Did we just want to replace the negativity of being deaf with the positivity of better hearing?
I used to think so, but I was wrong, not totally, but wrong enough.
If it was PR spin then it didn't go far enough.
Why do so many people wear glasses and so few wear hearing aids?
I suppose you could argue that being able to read is the main reason.
Try reading this without your glasses, a significant number of the population couldn't.
There are,however,other reasons.
Spectacles have been given an image. Cool,sexy,intelligent people wear spectacles.
Most people who have a need for glasses, don't hesitate to try them on and see how they look.
Contrast that with the image of hearing aids.
Elderly,uncool,disabled,all negative connotations.
Also, do we need perfect hearing like we need to see for reading and driving? Well,we can get away with a lot more with our hearing...but why should we?
Why should we have to struggle with imperfect hearing.
Why should we have to put up with not following conversations?
Why can't we have superhuman hearing?
We have the technology (and if we don't we ought to have).
I see the future of hearing aids as three fold.
1 A massive PR job to show people how cool having perfect hearing can be.
2 The design capabilities to make this feasible.
3 The technology to make hearing aids to produce hearing that is better than perfect.