in this one picture, I see generations of so many individual great ideas coalescing into one fantastically bad idea (and stupidly comical consequence) that is so... bizarre that I can both simultaneously understand why nobody really saw it coming, and am in low-key disbelief that this is even real...

[–] SparroHawc@piefed.world 32 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I mean, that's a steno mask, and anyone who's had issues with hand pain but wants to communicate via text has probably wished for something resembling this. The problem is that they're obnoxiously expensive. (And they look ridiculous, but that's its own issue.)

When I'm in public, I wish people had these. I neither need nor want to listen to your phone conversations.

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Their price is so dumb, that thing shouldn't cost that much

Just like those accessibility tools that let you use control the mouse pointer using only your mouth etc etc, they have stupid prices when some aren't even that complex

[–] SparroHawc@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

They're a niche product that has a very solid use case (court transcripts). They require far less training than a stenotype, but because they're so niche, the people who do make them can more-or-less charge what they want. If we're being less skeptical, the low demand means the manufacturers can't take advantage of the efficiencies of scale, so the price remains high.

[–] lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

of course it’s not, because every laptop and airpod has ~~noise cancelling~~ input isolation

But as far as rage bait goes, top tier

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I think this is a microphone with noise isolation, rather than noise cancelation from speakers.

[–] lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Thanks, edited for meaning