• DarkCloud@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    22 days 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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      22 days 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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        22 days ago

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

    • Dookieman12@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      22 days 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