Do you know someone who has a hard time hearing what you say to them? Do you have to talk very loudly, almost screaming at them, and repeat what you say several times before they understand what you are trying to tell them? Maybe you have even started to write little notes back and forth to communicate with each other. If so, you know how frustrating that can be.
Where did hearing aids come from? The earliest aids were crude horns placed in the ear to amplify sound. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he was also working on a way to develop a hearing device. His work on the telephone did help to improve the progress he made on hearing amplifiers, but they were not portable. At that time he was using a carbon transmitter for both the electric telephone and hearing aid.
Then in the early part of the twentieth century, a precursor to the modern hearing aid was developed. It amplified sound through a wire placed in the ear. In the 1920s, the carbon transmitter was replaced by a vacuum tube. Though still not portable, it was an important improvement. The first portable hearing device was finally devised in the mid 1930s. It could be carried in your pocket and taken with you anywhere.
The invention of transistors in the 1950s allowed electric hearing aids to become smaller and much more efficient. The revolution had begun! The progress from those first crude horns, to today's tiny miracles has been tremendous. It did not happen over night, though, it was a long gradual process that included the work of many dedicated scientists, inventors and engineers working many long hours to assist those with this particular need. Their efforts contributed so much to the well being, attitude and happiness of so many in need.
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