I wear hearing aids in both ears, and I’ve done so since I was 14. I’m now nearing 49. I’m also a computer scientist and a gadget geek. I’ve spent more than half of my life LONGING for the hearing aid manufacturer’s to catch up with the possibilities, and the burgeoning opportunities of which you describe have only just started to become available. My latest set of aids, purchased two years ago, where a revolution. Through a bluetooth dongle I can stream audio from my phone and computer directly into my ears. As someone with a hearing loss who has tried for 30 years to use headphones (a dismall experience if you wear hearing aids), I felt true joy the first time I heard music streamed direclty to the devices that were supplying me with nearly all the sounds I hear. Even two years after that first experience, I’m still in thrall to the change it has made to my enjoyment of all things audio (music, phone calls, podcasts, audio books). But now I want MORE. I want to ditch the silly dongle I must wear around my neck (which converts the bluetooth from phone/computer to be converted to FM signal to the aids). And I want better software interfaces for the iPhone that understand my preferences to have all that text coming my way spoken to me — if only I could get notifications whispered into my ear, and ask Siri to read me that text message or email that just arrived!

This article, and the small discussion it has generated, has been music to my ears.