Comments Re: Madsen Discussion

[HearWHAC]

Jeff Sirianni, sirianni at UTS.CC.UTEXAS.EDU says...
>I agree with all of those participants who believe that the newsgroup 
cannot
>and should not be used for commercial purposes.

Jeff, there is a very thin line between "commercial" and what some of us do. 
In the past I have learned much from the manufacturers and I believe their 
input is very important, whether it be from Martie, Peter or others. I want 
to know what Danavox and HIMSA are doing. I have just gone back and reviewed 
what was said in Dave's original post and I can't figure out what offended 
them.

Right now we are in the process of wanting to evaluate NOAH for use in our 
practice. Our reasons for wanting NOAH to work are quite simple. We have 
used the 3M software and box for several years. We also have used the Phonak 
PICS software and box for some time. We want to use the Siemens software and 
box. We may want to use the Resound software and box. I was in Europe in 
October and over there they are already using the NOAH with the 3M, Siemens 
and Phonak and soon will be using it with the Resound. So, instead of having 
four dispensers having to carry four different boxes (3M, Phonak, Siemens 
and Phonak) maybe with NOAH they will only have to carry one box!

But, there are also some bad things that I want to know about the NOAH 
system. Are we going to be allowed to say these things out loud on this 
forum?

Also, my son is on this forum and he and I don't always agree! Am I going to 
be blamed for his views? (Yes, I know, I brought him up but some of it 
didn't take! For some reason he likes to think for himself! ;-)

You wrote:
>It is perfectly acceptable
>for non-commercially affiliated persons to comment on past, present, and
>future products on the market.  That is how we decide what to purchase and
>what to dispense to our patients.  Healthy informative discussion is
>certainly encouraged.  It is NOT acceptable for individuals having
>commercial affilation to boast about their products or disclaim 
competitor's
>products.

Hopefully, most of us are old enough and mature enough to recognize what is 
happening when someone "boasts about their products or disclaim (their) 
competitor's." One of the very first things I learned in sales (back in 1962 
I became a very successful Prudential insurance sales person) was that every 
time I "bad mouthed" my competition, everybody went to that competitor and 
purchased their insurance instead of mine. When I started keeping my mouth 
shut about my competition, they didn't sell as much insurance. So, since 
about my second month in the insurance business I learned to never "bad 
mouth" my competition. If Martie, Peter or Dave want to "bad mouth" anyone, 
please let them. It allows us to see the "whole picture."

>I am not
>sure how to respond to the fact that David Delage is the son of a
>commercially-affiliated individual, but I would venture that some bias made
>be present.  In any event, I would recommend anyone with
>commercial-affiliation, or who feel that they are commercially-influenced 
in
>one form or another, to refrain from commenting against competitor's
>products or hailing their own products.

I'd "recommend" this too for their own benefit, but if they want to "bad 
mouth" their competition, please let them. I believe this is important for 
all of us to know.

You also wrote:
>1. Please provide participants with factual and technical information that
>is requested.
>2. Please refrain from any rhetoric that "promotes one's product" <snip>

Is this an oxymoron?

Paul Woodard :-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dave Delage originally wrote this and it brought an interesting reaction 
from Martie and Peter:
>I haven't actually seen Aurical in person (or whatever), but I know it
>is NOT a docking station, just a platform to rest the computer on.  It
>is controlled by the RS-232 (COM) port of the computer, which, in
>general, translates to s-l-o-w.  In addition, it has the additional
>speed overhead required for saving its data in Noah.

Note: I regard this post as providing very important information about our 
decision to use NOAH! Right now we are on course to use NOAH, but it is one 
big investment for us to make and I do appreciate all the help and input 
many persons on this list have given! One of our audiologists is very 
unhappy with NOAH. Another is happy with it, but she had problems today 
because the Siemens software is apparently not deleting two files in the 
NOAH/data directory and that will keep her from getting it back up and 
running. I want it to work but we have had all kinds of problems getting it 
installed. And, yes, somebody else mentioned "$17,000," for the Aurical 
software. (I don't believe that person was "commercial.") That is also 
important. This is a good list! Please keep it that way! I for one 
appreciate the input of Martie, Peter, Dave and all the others even though I 
sure don't agree with some of the things they say and do! Thanks, Jeff, for 
your making this a good list!