Helping People Hear What They’ve Been Missing; Widex, Starkey and Siemens Hearing Aid Companies Introduce New Products
Widex hearing aids company began in 1956 when two sailors, discharged from the Navy, took the knowledge they gained while in the service and put it to good use inventing and making special circuit systems and different components which helped make Widex hearing aids outstanding on the world market. They introduced the hearing impaired world to things like the dual acting battery drawer and on/off switch; inside the instrument, the ‘honeycombed’ nylon block helps to support the aid and they helped to reduce moisture in the enclosed M-T switch. The Widex Company was also instrumental in helping to reduce wind noise in the latest hearing aids of the time.
Starkey hearing aids began as one person, William Austin who fixed hearing aids in St. Louis Park, Minnesota in 1967. In 1971, Austin purchased a small laboratory called Starkey from Mr. Starkey himself, the lab produced small earmolds and Mr. Starkey continued to help out and the name remained the same. The first 90-day trial period was introduced in 1973 and a one year ‘worry-free’ warranty was also issued. With hearing aid production growing rapidly, the Starkey Company expanded overseas, first to England, then to Germany. They opened other manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada. In 1978, the Starkey Fund began as a battery recycling program.
Siemens hearing aids draw from its 130 years of experience in both the field and the laboratory in order to make the most technologically advanced hearing devices available today. Many of Siemens hearing devices are Bluetooth compatible and allow the user “to stay connected to many of today’s popular audio devices wirelessly.” Their latest and smallest hearing aid, the Pure, delivers stereo sound quality right to your ears. This little dynamo streams sound from the wearer’s cell phone, television or MP3 player or other audio devices directly through their Pure instrument.
These three hearing aid companies each take hearing loss to be a serious medical condition and strive to help those affected by its devastation. The loss of hearing means the loss of communication unless the hearing-impaired person and others know ASL – American Sign Language and many people who lose their hearing later in life already have a voice in place so they don’t want to be confused with deaf people who can not speak clearly mainly because they can not hear themselves talk.