The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[PeterT]

This article might be of interest --> https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/oth...es/ar-AA1tdhWW

It's from 9 months ago so presumably more research is needed into the current situation.

**Update**
See https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/

[JSWolf]

The Airpods Pro 3 have enhanced hearing aid mode, better fit, and better battery. The 3 has a more scientifically validated heading test, better voice clarity, and better noise reduction.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Airpods Pro 3 have enhanced hearing aid mode, better fit, and better battery. The 3 has a more scientifically validated heading test, better voice clarity, and better noise reduction.

From your experience with the AirPods 3, what do you see as their major advantages over the AirPods 2? Or are you just quoting advertising material?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

From your experience with the AirPods 3, what do you see as their major advantages over the AirPods 2? Or are you just quoting advertising material?

The Airpods 3 have not yet been released. But from what Apple says...

Improved Hearing Health Experience with Extended Battery Life

Continuing Apple’s dedication to hearing health, AirPods Pro 3 expand on the world’s first end-to-end hearing health experience introduced last fall. With AirPods Pro, users benefit by minimizing exposure to loud environmental noise. To help even more people, Hearing Protection comes to EU and UK users, following certification for those regions.

The Hearing Test has already helped millions of people learn about their hearing with scientifically validated results from the comfort of their home. With next-level ANC removing even more background noise, it is easier than ever for users to take a Hearing Test and receive personalized assistance with AirPods Pro 3. To help Hearing Aid users in louder environments like restaurants, Conversation Boost is now automatic, adding powerful amplification with background noise reduction. AirPods Pro 3 also increase battery life in Transparency mode by 67 percent over the previous generation with up to 10 hours with a single charge.

[BetterRed]

Went to the Apple Store last evening, my iPhone i8+ can't be upgraded to the version of IOS needed to support the Airpods Pro 2, so I would have to get a new iPhone.

I don't want or need a new phone, I hardly use the one I have (it's on the lowest pre-paid plan there is) - outgoing calls 10s of minutes per annum, data 0.

Wondering if I can use them with an Apple iWatch, which would suit me better. I don't carry my phone most of the time, and my Fitbit has stopped syncing with anything, so it's 10 minutes slow :lol:

The Apple Store was surprisingly unbusy, more blue shirted staff, at least 20, than customers, and not one female amongst them — wall-to-wall blokes/dudes!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by PeterT

This article might be of interest --> https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/oth...es/ar-AA1tdhWW

It's from 9 months ago so presumably more research is needed into the current situation.

**Update**
See https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/

They're a medical device, so they have to approved by the relevant authorities. In Australia that's the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), in the US it's the FDA, and in the UK it's the MHRA.

Canada is not on the current availability list, which presumably means that Health Canada is yet to approve their usage as a hearing aid.

[BetterRed]

Windows 10 Pro Update, if it is waiting for permission to restart, Copilot downs tools and stops work, sits there like a stunned mullet if you ask it anything e.g. 'what time is it'

[Renate]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Windows 10 Pro Update, if it is waiting for permission to restart, Copilot downs tools and stops work, sits there like a stunned mullet if you ask it anything e.g. 'what time is it'

Do you mean the fish or the haircut?

[BetterRed]

the fish - scroll down ==>> https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres...ings-origins/m

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Canada is not on the current availability list, which presumably means that Health Canada is yet to approve their usage as a hearing aid.

To quote from Health Canada:

As of December 11, 2024, AirPods Pro 2 have been approved as Class II medical devices/hearing aids in Canada.

The issues arise from the patchwork of regulations between Canada's provinces and territories. A couple of quotes regarding the situation:

“Prescribing a hearing aid is controlled by the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) and this restricted activity is authorized to only audiologists and physicians. The RHPA also prohibits the dispensing of a hearing aid except under a prescription issued by an authorized health professional.”

In British Columbia, under the Health Professions Act (HPA) and the Speech and Hearing Health Professionals Regulation, only RHIPs are licensed to dispense hearing aids. While RHIPs and RAUDs may both prescribe hearing aids, only RHIPs may sell and fit hearing aids.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Went to the Apple Store last evening, my iPhone i8+ can't be upgraded to the version of IOS needed to support the Airpods Pro 2, so I would have to get a new iPhone.

All you really need is a FRIEND with an iPhone which can run iOS 18. My nephew did the setup for Mom's AirPods2 (includes time to take a hearing test, and setting up the AirPods using that result). Mom then tries not to lose them, and tries to remember to charge them. (No, don't wear them ALL Christmas Day -- all AirPods only get ~3 hrs and need to be stuck in their case to do a battery-to-battery recharge. That helped.)

Owning the setup phone would allow you to make corrections later, or change the "mode" (movie mode, conversations, etc) but my mom couldn't even work the "designed for seniors" flip smart-phone that's out there. She gets reasonable results from these, at home, 6 miles from said nephew.

So, they seem to be useful, but that's up for debate. At $200-300 for the AirPods, it seemed a good thing to test, for her. She has worn them for locally rented and shown movies; I think she said they helped. And family dinners. She refuses to bother using them for one-on-one situations, even though she only hears half of what I say. And no, I'm not talking too much; I'm the introvert. I only drive her every where.

[Renate]

My rant: Why do normal 3 mm diffused LEDs always have colored lenses?
Yeah, you can get clear lenses for those laser-like LEDs that fry your eyeballs.
But a nice diffused LED always has cheesy tinted lenses.
If the lens is clear/white/milky then the contrast from the LED being on vs off is better.
If the lens is tinted you can't easily say if it's on or off.

Edit: This seems to be a cultural thing. I just found a bunch on AliExpress when I couldn't find anything at the BigElectronicPlace.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Renate

My rant: Why do normal 3 mm diffused LEDs always have colored lenses?
Yeah, you can get clear lenses for those laser-like LEDs that fry your eyeballs.
But a nice diffused LED always has cheesy tinted lenses.
If the lens is clear/white/milky then the contrast from the LED being on vs off is better.
If the lens is tinted you can't easily say if it's on or off.

You can get diffused clear ones. Also the contrast may be higher with a tinted one in some circumstances as the reflected light from the chip is attenuated and filtered twice, but the chip emission is attenuated once and less attenuated anyway.

I think the issue is the surface reflecting. Make the LED surface matt and the contrast improves.

I've maybe 1000s of LEDs and the coloured ones are mostly better contrast. Also if I lose the label or spill several compartments of clear ones then I have to test to see what colour they are.

OTOH maybe you suffer from more sunlight than I do in Ireland.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Renate

My rant: Why do normal 3 mm diffused LEDs always have colored lenses?
Yeah, you can get clear lenses for those laser-like LEDs that fry your eyeballs.
But a nice diffused LED always has cheesy tinted lenses.
If the lens is clear/white/milky then the contrast from the LED being on vs off is better.
If the lens is tinted you can't easily say if it's on or off.

Edit: This seems to be a cultural thing. I just found a bunch on AliExpress when I couldn't find anything at the BigElectronicPlace.

Did you tried also the 2700K, or 3600k ones?

Spoiler:

That's not about being coloured, but the lumen temperature, lower ones won't give eyestrain imho.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nana77

Did you tried also the 2700K, or 3600k ones?
That's not about being coloured, but the lumen temperature, lower ones won't give eyestrain imho.

It's not about LED lighting, but the 3mm (and 5mm?) instrumentation/panel LEDs. They are monochrome, so have a wavelength or colour, but not a "colour temperature"

The LED lighting uses blue or violet LEDs and phosphors, a yellow one being the simplest to give a white appearance. You need several phosphors and thus less efficiency to have better colour rendition. The actual colour temperature is an approximation on "white" LEDs or CFLs. It's really only true for incandescent filament sources and long life incandescent lamps are noticeably orange and much less efficient. Daylight colour temperature incandescent lamps with higher efficiency have maybe 1/10th or 1/100th (Photo lamps) life of the panel indicators. LEDs as panel indicators might have more than 50 years life.

Natively white LEDs don't exist.