Even not looking at the used market, a new iPhone SE is $430 (and likely to be substantially updated soon)
https://swappa.com/buy/iphones
I mean, I'm all-Android all-the-way, but I think the used market is viable for this.
Different response than the rest (but I am running out):
Now you have to carry around the AirPods in your ears and phone in your pocket. Cost is more than a number.
Woah there fella. Hearing aids last a very long time before needing a new battery. AirPods needs to be charged several times a day. That's a bit of an inconvenience. As is some hearing aids are made to fit one's ear. Where as AirPods are 3 sizes fits all.
This will help more people hear. It might not be the best possible solution, but it surely beats not having it.
But Apple always gets a pass, so...
Also, since it is an alternative (even if lower functionality), it has the potential to bring down the cost of other options, because that's a common outcome from competition.
that's if you wear them all the time. I have hearing difficulties and know I need aids even without taking a test. But I wouldn't want something in my ear all day long and most of the time I don't need to hear better because I'm working or whatever. But there are situations where it's hard for me to understand what people are saying and that's when I would put them on.
So with that in mind the AirPods would work great. It's unfortunate that it doesn't work with the regular AirPods which are only $100. (I don't have the Pro's).
Actually the better the tip fits you, the more I'd think you'd take them out once in a while, because a perfect seal means your ears will get sweaty.
Or maybe you buy multiple instead of just one, so you can hotswap any time.
But now that Apple entered the market, maybe they will come out with wireless headphones that are more suitable?
It's healthy not to care too much about the fashion judgments of others, as you're suggesting. Is I agree with your first line. But you're otherwise bringing too black-and-white an approach to what is, in my view, an unavoidable part of social life.
Edit:
> normies with poor reading comprehension
OK. You object in the most strenuous terms to anyone making any sort of judgment about a person wearing AirPods, but are happy to throw out insults at people who disagree with you in the mildest of terms. Got it.
I tried conversing with somebody recently, and they were completely ignoring me. Then I saw the Airpods. Of course. They have music or something else going on.
For now, Airpods = "I am listening to something other than you right now." So yes, if somebody were wearing Airpods as a hearing device, I'd probably not talk to them because of that expectation.
Offer not valid if it's your in-laws, nurse, kid's teacher, your teacher, civil servant who you need to convince, and overall anyone in a position of authority or otherwise capable of gatekeeping you. You can't always just opt out of dealing with people without consequence.
You'd homeschool your kids because their teachers find it odd that you're wearing AirPods during a conversation? To each his own, I guess.
> Nurse? If they commit intentional malpractice, my attorney is ready to go.
In what world does subtly judging you for wearing AirPods during a conversation qualify as malpractice?
Even if you use them everyday and assume a shelf life of 1.5yrs (which is roughly mine and others' experience with AirPods), you would be replacing your Airpods for 12 years before the cost caught up with a single pair of hearing aids.
Even if you think Airpods are not on the same bar as regular hearing aids, this will certainly help depress market prices. Every manufacturer will probably start releasing sub $1000 hearing aids just to not get destroyed by Apple.