Offensive or Useful?

For my birthday, Jay got me a Kindle. I love it. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read. However, there is one minor drawback. And that is that technically it is a 'portable electronic device'. Which means that for about 20 minutes on either end of a flight, I am forced to entertain myself by looking out the window, talking to the person next to me (which on my most recent trip was Jay), or reading the Sky Mall magazine. So, I'm reading the Sky Mall magazine and I come across this item:

Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier

Improve your hearing - and enhance your image!

If a conventional hearing aid sounds like an embarrassment to you, try the Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier. It looks just like a cell phone ear adapter and works as a sound enhancer so you can join conversations and even hear soft voices from 50 feet away. Now you can enjoy the best of both worlds: a more youthful appearance and better hearing. Comes with charger (no batteries to replace) and three ear tips.

Is this a joke??? Maybe I'm biased, but I didn't realize that a hearing aid was thought of as an 'embarrassment'. Nor did I realize that having a giant bluetooth device hanging off your ear is considered 'cool' and 'youthful'. Especially when it has no actual bluetooth capabilities... Would people honestly walk around all day with one of these on just to avoid wearing a hearing aid??? Okay, so I can see how some cruel kids may one day make fun of my little boy for wearing hearing aids (like 4-eyes for glasses), but seriously, the man in this picture looks at least in his 60's. I'd think people would have grown out of that childish behavior by then. And besides, look at my handsome little man proudly sporting his hearing aids; I hope he never feels like he needs to hide them by using a product like this!