If that happens, will people be able to use best medical device without being subject to the various liberties that tech companies take with users -- violating privacy, and exercising leverage to other purposes?
We've become acclimated to expect violation from the "tech" industry, but what about the medical field?
Oh, you sweet innocent child.
Look at price gouging on EpiPens, J&J "lifelong" hip implants needing replacement every few years, insulin pumps with proprietary batteries, glucose monitors that actively prevent you from reading data, etc.
Big bad tech companies don't hold a candle to the medical industry.
FDA likes to "duck type" things, and if your duck doesn't look like the other ducks, you need to create a new animal or make your duck look like other ducks.
LOL. I hadn't seen this before. Quote? Or did you coin it?
(Like my grandfather. I also appreciate it, because while OTC hearing aids are - for now - too weak for my hearing loss, it's providing much more competition for the prescription hearing aid oligopoly and I'm benefiting indirectly. The jump between my hearing aids from 2017 to the pair I bought this year is the largest jump in quality I've heard in my hearing aids in like 20+ years.)
They approved hearing aid “software”, meaning it can run on arbitrary hardware that may or may not have the restrictions you’re talking about… as part of other “software”