Oh Say Can You See?

[Shotgun]

<rant>
Why are airlines allowed to get away with their bulldust pricing.
A return flight fro Townsville to Sidney back to Townsville $246 plus tax
Same journey on the same airline with the same plane at the almost same times but a different day over $100 dearer.
It doesnt use more fuel, the airport landing fee is the same, the distance is the same unless there is something about plate tectonics I've missed.
Sheer greed and with zero investigations regarding it a touch of corruption possible.
The rampant greed of modern businesses knows no bounds.
</rant>

Due to air cargo, the plane has to fly whether you get on it or not.
Everybody want to fly on some days, and nobody wants to fly on others. That $246 is found money when they can't fill the seats. The extra $100 is what it really costs to run a business.

 

[B2]

@tmenyc

My hearing aids are Phonak, fully bluetooth and usb charged. They're like Derek Flint's cigarette lighter, do 72 things and let me hear: I am completely wired into my android phone, for telephone, audiobooks, television, computer.

I have expensive Phonack also, but am not as impressed. The phone works with them, but how do I get my modern smart TV to transmit to them. I also have a little Blue tooth box that sends to head phones, but I cannot seem to get the Phonak's to link up. Suggestions?

Hearing loss is due to damage of the ~20,000 little hair sensors. The more sensors lost, the worst the hearing. I recently discovered that while I can hear softer sounds the hearing aids actually accelerated the decay of my hearing. I think the theory is simple, the hair sensors are damaged due to excessive power levels. Hearing aids amplify the sound and produce higher power levels. So even though we cannot hear well to know any better, we are pounding on the sensors when we turn the hearing aid volume up! So when the commercials come on and they turn the volume way up to get our attention, they are destroying our hearing! What is there to be done...... just getting older and older.

PS. Hearing aids are expensive be cause it is a closed market. A lot of that money has gone to the lobbyist. The new law will help for those who only need a hearing amplifier, but it does not apply to true hearing aids. You can get an amplifier for 1/10 the cost. Try, https://zvox.com/collections/voice-buds or equivalent where they let you return them if you do not like them. They connect to your phone also. I guessing you can get similar from Aliexpress for even less.

PS. No one grinds the plastic lens in eye glasses. They are cast into molds. The molds last for ever if cared for. So glasses are not expensive due to the labor of making the plastic part. Coating them with a anti reflection layer is also cheap as they do lots of them at a time. Likewise for most frames. Glasses are just all mark up for services. If your prescription is simple then get the internet glasses and toss them when they are poorly made. Only glass lenses are ground and polished and it is hard to even find someone to sell you these.

PSS. By the way, it costs a few cents at most to make lipstick and put it in a molded plastic container, but look what people pay. It is mostly wax, dyes, and perfume.... All of the money goes to profits, services, and mostly, to lots of advertising. Makeup, Perfume, etc...

 

[projectnut]

The attitudes displayed here by several members is interesting. It’s similar to that of those at the executive management level. That attitude being “if I don’t know how to do it it’s not that complicated”. Or the other adage I heard on a daily basis “I don’t need technical experts I need good managers”. The thought by management in both cases was that the high cost of the product was primarily due to the greed of the labor needed to produce it not the cost of the raw materials.

For some reason the high price of the product is always something outside the control of the person deriding its cost. Labor insists management is greedy and the that’s what inflates the cost. Management on the other hand feels the labor force is overpaid for the skills needed to produce the product and that’s what inflates the cost.

In reality it’s probably a combination of both. The problem is neither side is willing to compromise.

 

[RJSakowski]

Thanks for all the responses. It is great to get a full range of viewpoints.

As to the capital expense involved in the the equipment required to make prescription eye wear, I can see where it could reach the six figure range. However, that expense amortized over the shear volume of production should result in a minimal portion of the retail cost. According to the vision council, nearly 50% of the US population wear prescription eye wear. A major national company would be producing tens of millions of eye glasses yearly. This is a $33 billion dollar industry.

I can understand that there is some effort required to create software for automated production of eye wear.but it should be that much more complicated than writing code for manufacture of a complicated assembly. Having worked for a medical device company, I have seen first hand the markup that occurs simply because something is a medical device. The medical profession accepts these markups because they can just pass the cost on to the consumer. The same occurs with the military industrial complex and the aerospace industry.

 

[B2]

The attitudes displayed here by several members is interesting.

By the way, you can purchase the Phonack Hearing Aids from Costco or from an audiologist/ENT doctor. The Costco price is about 1/2 as much. So this example has nothing to do with management and labor's disputes.

When you go to the audiologist/ENT office you pay a lot for service and their profits. In my case, I know that the audiologist does not get much of the price difference, but she is associated with an ENT office.... The testing that is done by Costco, but the Costco tech is somewhat similar to what was done at the audiologist office, but with less equipment and is more computer automated. My greatest complaint about the high end hearing aid mafia is that they use software to program the hearing aids but do not make it available for the user so you must return to the seller to get it adjusted. Yes, it connects to the phone and there is a little bit of adjusting settings that you can do, but not much in the scheme of things.

 

[B2]

@RJSakowski

Many years ago my cousin work for Bausch and Lomb eye wear division. He is a chemical engineer and was a manager in the group making the plastic lens for glasses. While this business was profitable, B and L quit the glasses business simply, because making contact lens was so much more profitable.

 

[Provincial]

Ah yes, glasses and hearing aids... know them both well. I've had Zeiss progressive lenses for thirty years, and can't imagine life without them. Yes, I have only two pairs because of the cost, but each pair lasts me a good five years. They are around $1k per pair, have been for years. So I figure $200 per pair per year isn't a bad deal since I need my glasses to find my glasses and do a great deal of fine work and reading.

My hearing aids are Phonak, fully bluetooth and usb charged. They're like Derek Flint's cigarette lighter, do 72 things and let me hear: I am completely wired into my android phone, for telephone, audiobooks, television, computer. The Phonaks were $6600 for a complete warranty, all regular service included at my ENT office, for three years. Paying $2200 per year to hear and be fully engaged in my world has seemed well worth it to me. And yes, as Provincial said, it has Bose audio sensitivity and noise supression all built in. I find the android app to be useless and the suppression of crowd noise to not work at all, but I'm not complaining.

Provincial -- the tv link is phenonemal. In fact, to watch tv with my wife I have to remove my left hearing aid to be able to hear her and the tv, because nothing pisses her off more than my not hearing her talk. It's a little (2"square) that sits in front of my screen, direct bluetooth via miniUSB.

On both hearing and eyeglasses, I could have done both with major price savings, accompanied by equally major functionality compromises, decided I needed both to maintain the quality and speed of my functionality at 70, since both are compromised daily by what seems to be rapidly eroding but probably normal strength, flexibiity and mobility.

Tim

"$6600 for a complete warranty, all regular service included at my ENT office, for three years. Paying $2200 per year to hear and be fully engaged in my world has seemed well worth it to me."

$6,600 for three years is about $6.00 per day to get functional hearing. I find it well worth that cost, but I get mine from Costco, so it is much more economical. The pair I got last Fall cost a little less than the ones from 5 years before, and they work much better and have many more features.

"Provincial -- the tv link is phenonemal. In fact, to watch tv with my wife I have to remove my left hearing aid to be able to hear her and the tv, because nothing pisses her off more than my not hearing her talk."

My wife is the same! She will talk on the phone, or have the TV playing something I'm not interested in, so I turn off my hearing aids to stop the background noise. Then she tries to start a conversation or ask a question and has to wait while I turn on the aids and they go through the startup. It drives her mad!

 

[7milesup]

because nothing pisses her off more than my not hearing her talk.

Are we married to the same woman? If so, can you chip in your share please?

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

I just had cataract surgery (steroid abuse for decades) I was always very near sighted, and actually had lasik about 20 years ago. When you go for cataract surgery, you get to pick your focal range (you can go one eye for distance and one eye for near as well.) They have bifocal versions, but I have heard nothing but bad about them and insurance won't cover them (at about $3500 per eye). Since I was always very near sighted, I chose to go far sighted. Being able to see clearly at 100 yards, it sounded great! Trust me, it's not a situation of "never needing glasses again". My distance is great, but anything 5' or closer is about invisible. I ALWAYS have glasses handy now to see my phone, labels, computer and of course, working in the shop.
When the time comes, I would highly suggest choosing slightly near sighted (maybe a -1.00 to -1.50) The mono vision is no go as you will lose depth perception. Sorry, the topic came up here and I wish someone told me all of this prior to surgery.

 

[Janderso]

This is all new to me.
I find myself asking my wife to repeat what she said. I'm beginning to think I need to have my ears checked.
Did it start by hearing but not being able to make out the words/meaning?

My wife got me a decibel meter with clock and humidity for the shop Hint -hint