Not Even Good Enough for Government Work

Although we have composed several thoughtful posts regarding hearing, we did not expect to be alerted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of a daylong conference on April 18. Similarly, the Wall Street Journal, which does a pretty decent job of covering hearing issues (because hearing deficiencies have a significant impact not only on people’s happiness but also on their productivity) did not mention this important conference—either before or after it. We only heard of it because the CEO of Sound World Solutions was slated to speak at the conference, and the company sent the announcement of his speaking to its customer list on April 15.

Note that although this April 18 conference was announced on January 4, it was not until March 28 that there was a preliminary agenda published or any way to submit questions provided. We did not hear about the conference itself until April 15, and we sent the following comment on April 16:

“My own hearing has diminished to the point that I need SOME form of assistance. And I can afford it. But I am baffled by the advice I get from ENT doctors, audiologists, and especially the sellers of hearing aids and PSAPs (Personal Sound Amplification Products). On my website WhyMenDieYoung.com I have posted my observations and my objections to the apparently cluelessness of these folks. I started by stating the problem , which is consonant with the text above. Then I moved on to decrying the missed opportunitycombining wireless earbuds for listening to a mobile device AND serving as hearing aids at. Apple and third-party suppliers of AirPods should have done better. Few among us would call the AirPods attractive, but because they are from Apple they have a lot of cachet. But they are unattractive in a different way from the way that conventional hearing aids are unattractive. The old saw “ children should be seen but not heard” becomes “hearing aids should be heard but not seen”. Most hearing aids look like something that many iPhone users’ grandparents might use, which is the reason that so many older folks resist using them. At least in Silicon Valley, most people would prefer to look geeky than to look senile. Most recently I followed up on the useless online hearing tests. I hope that the FTC can prod the hearing care business to get going to improve the hearing of Americans.”

On the day of the conference, there was an announcement of a Public Comment Period during April 18 through May 18. The FTC did reserve the right to review the comments, which seems rather restrictive given that the conference itself was open to the public. In any case, I was unhappy that my comment was not included among the approximately 100 total. WORSE, when I attempted to lodge a complaint, the FTC’s website’s design blocked me from doing so. Hence the title of this post.