• DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    While the company insists that owners technically don’t have to shell out $20 a month, even premium subscribers will be locked out after using 15 hours of “Conversation Focus,” a feature that amplifies the voices of people you’re talking to, per month. Without a subscription, owners are restricted to just three hours of the feature a month.

    Bwhahhaaha - it’s a hearing aid! Just buy a fucking hearing aid!

    • artyom@piefed.social
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      7 hours ago

      In the literal sense, yes. In the clinical sense, no.

      That being said, there’s value in a hearing aid that doesn’t look like a hearing aid. It’s why Apple implemented a similar functionality into AirPods.

      That being said, this is not a special feature, it’s just Meta leveraging their marketing and ability to change the terms OTA to squeeze every dollar possible out of their customers.

      • tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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        3 hours ago

        Arguably they’re also potentially more helpful if they can detect who you’re looking at and only amplify that person’s voice.

        • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          Yeah. The center channel on my TV’s audio system has all the dialog. I love being able to focus my attention a specifc direction to hear what they’re saying and the sound system does whatever the hell it does to make that happen. I could really see something like what you described being part of a cochlear implant to improve its functionality. But this is way beyond me. I just make noise.

        • artyom@piefed.social
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          2 hours ago

          I suppose that’s possible but I would expect to see data attesting to that before shelling out the dough.

    • Dookieman12@piefed.social
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      11 hours ago

      It’s not even that sophisticated. A hearing aid works by directly stimulating the small bones in the ear. This is just a pair of earbuds with audio passthrough and a volume knob