Iterate Weekly - Issue 81
This week we're checking out Sony's new hearing aids, Work Appropriate with Anne Helen Petersen, Compostable clothing, Uni Watch comes to Substack, and the Hard Fork podcast!
Welcome to issue 81 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Sony is Making a $1,000 Hearing Aid
Did you hear (pun intended) the big news? The United States is allowing hearing aids to be sold over-the-counter now!
Thankfully, my hearing still seems to be in pretty good shape but I know this is a big deal for some folks who are sick of dealing with the bureaucracy and high costs of prescriptions. This will likely usher in a whole new wave of traditional hearing aids and “hearing aid-like devices” that could be popping up at a pharmacy or electronics store near you.
And it makes sense for tech companies to try to get in on this change right? Sony is one of the first traditional tech companies to announce that it will be selling a new hearing aid to be purchased without a prescription. The products won’t be cheap. The $1,000 CRE-C10 and $1,300 CRE-E10, will be built in partnership with WS Audiology.
These aren’t going to be like the hearing aids of yesteryear. No sir, these are high-tech devices that are virtually invisible in the ear and can be controlled with the help of a Sony app on your phone. The more expensive Sony model can even double as a traditional bluetooth earbud for taking calls and listening to music. This follows a similar trajectory of other audio brands like Bose, Jabra (my earbud manufacturer of choice), and Sennheiser who all look to get on the hearing aid bandwagon.
Hearing aids may seem like an odd topic for me to cover, but I’m pretty fascinated by this. The lines are getting blurry between what makes something a “hearing aid” versus a set of bluetooth earbuds that offers “hear-through mode” or “dynamic audio enhancement” or other jargon. The one distinguishing factor was that one required a medical exam to purchase. Now with that out of the picture, people will be ordering their earbuds and hearing aids from the same places for nearly the same cost.
The future looks bright for those of us who will be losing our hearing in the next few decades. And who doesn’t want to be able to hear better?
Are you excited for this hearing aid revolution? Would you pay a little more money for a set of earbuds that lets you hear better?
🎓 Education/Productivity
Work Appropriate with Anne Helen Petersen
I’ve written before about Anne Helen Petersen’s fantastic Culture Study newsletter.
This week I want to give a shout out to her new podcast called “Work Appropriate.”
The podcast aims to address listener-submitted questions about the current state and future of work. Petersen does such a great job of injecting both humor and sincerity into every subject she writes about. And I have no doubt that the podcast will continue that.
She will have expert guests joining her each week to weigh-in on topics from the general world of work and her trailer gives some ideas of things that will get covered. Like many of us, Anne Helen Petersen’s opinions on work have drastically changed in the last three years.
It’s about time for us to reassess our relationships with work and I can’t think of a better person to facilitate this conversation than Petersen. I’m really excited to see it launch and if you’re a fan of her writing or just looking to improve you happiness in the workplace, you should subscribe in your podcast player of choice.
♻️ Health & Environment
Compostable Clothing
My wife asked me a simple question the other day about what she should do with an old piece of clothing. Is it worth donating? Is it past the point of being useful to a donation center? Would they just throw it in the trash anyway? Should we throw it in the trash now to save them the time? Does it have to go straight to the landfill as opposed to recycling or composting it?
I was pretty sure that the best course of action was just to throw it in the gray bin that goes to the landfill, but I didn’t feel great about that answer. And I’m sure many of you have asked yourself similar questions when articles of clothing seem to reach the end of their lifespans.
Rejoice, the answer to our problems is just compostable clothing!
Yes, some retailers are developing materials that are biodegradable and/or can be tossed into your local compost bin (I know that not everyone has these, that’s a matter for another day.)
Of course, it’s not as simple as just making a shirt out of corn husks or rice paper. New brands like Stripe & Stare, Harvest & Mill, and Sustain as well as traditional brands like H&M and Stella McCartney are trying to develop the technology to make this a reality.
It can be expensive and there are many details to iron out. Things like biodegradable inks, dyes, and threads can be the issue even after you’ve agreed on a fabric that works. Plus, it’s hard to give up things like water-proof coatings and wrinkle reducers that some technical fabrics are treated with in the manufacturing process.
The good news is that progress is being made in this space. We may not be able to plant our old socks in the backyard quite yet. But if we can maybe send in our old clothing to be repurposed by these brands (which many are starting to do) it will make for a nice temporary stop-gap until we make it to our sustainable future.
Would you be into compostable clothing? Rice paper shirts and corn husk pants?
🛍 Grab Bag
Uni Watch on Substack
In all honesty, Uni Watch may be the most read website for me over the past decade. One because it’s excellent content, and two because it’s remained more or less exactly the same while other websites have come and gone. Yes, in its simplest terms it’s a website about sports uniforms. But it touches on some of the business side of sports (sponsor logos on uniforms are no good!) and design principles and art that sometimes spins outside of the sports UNI-verse.
Last year, I was pleased to see the creator of Uni Watch (Paul Lukas) branch out to create both a podcast and newsletter that was being distributed by Facebook/Meta’s Bulletin platform.
Sadly, the podcast was discontinued, and recently Meta announced that it was shutting down the Bulletin platform and forcing all of its creators to find new homes for their work.
Thankfully, Paul was able to find a new home right here on Substack!
There are free and paid options and he has transitioned all of the old content from Bulletin onto the new site. It is a Substack publication that I’ve added to my personal recommendation list. If you haven’t checked out that list, you can find it here.
You may not be as invested in the world of athletic aesthetics as I am, but you should absolutely poke around on the Uni Watch Substack page to see if anything catches your eye. Even if you’re not into sports; designers, historians, and generally inquisitive folks will find Paul’s writing captivating and undoubtedly learn something new.
💬 Quote of the Week
"I've never been particularly aware of my age. It's like being on a bicycle - I just put my foot down and keep going."
-Angela Lansbury
🎧Content Recommendation
Hard Fork Podcast
I loved Kevin Roose’s Rabbit Hole podcast when it debuted a few years back. It was put out by the New York Times and was planned to only be a limited series. It took a close look at ways in which the internet changes the basic fabric of human life.
But it’s clear that there is a demand for tech content that bleeds into human-interest journalism with witty interview banner.
So I was very excited to see that Roose has a new podcast where he’s joined forces with Casey Newton of Platformer.
It’s called Hard Fork (the name takes a little getting used to, but they explain it well in the first episode). Kevin and Casey interview some influential names in the tech world but they also give insightful commentary and predictions on what the future may hold.
The first few episodes have been really entertaining and I’m excited to see how the series grows over time. If you like any of the tech stories I cover, I’m sure you’ll love Hard Fork.
Hey! I’m testing out some new polling tools that Substack has recently added. Keep your eyes on this section and please help me get some feedback by taking a second to choose an answer in my poll. Thank you!
POLL
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
P.S. - Are you looking for a coach? I’m looking to work with some potential new clients and would love to help you out. Are you struggling with screen addiction? Need some help building positive habits or ditching negative ones? Iterating on a new business idea and need some guidance? If you’d like a free 30-minute consultation chat, feel free to book some time with me here!
I'm not sure where this 'Sony hearing aid thing' will end. At the moment I am scared that they are allowed. How about testing these devices? Are they tested by a national institute which checks if they meet requirements of health gadgets?