Via
Disquiet:
the FDA is allowing hearing aids to be purchased over-the-counter. This will get consumer audio companies to make hearing aids.
This is a pretty huge change. I used to work at a hearing aid company, which enjoyed a kind of cartel-like situation. There were only six hearing aid companies, and they tacitly (I assume it was tacit, but who knows) agreed on prices. There were some quality problems, especially around noisy environments, that they never seemed to get past for decades. Maybe getting dozens of other groups working on it will finally allow people to hear conversations in restaurants.