[CalChris]

Yes, I have a great optometrist who provides a ton of value but I only get a certain window with them which at Berkeley is about an hour which is a lot. And I got an awesome prescription from them.

But optician (!= optometrist) generally want to talk to you about frames and not about lenses. This is understandable since they have to make a buck.

So the gap filler here is educating myself. I still let them do what they are in fact very good at but I educate myself on the choices.

This has worked out very well for me. My sister in law has terrible vision and I wonder whether my approach (self-education) would work for her. Maybe, maybe not. But I do think she should get personalized free-form lenses and her optician hasn't suggested that. Dunno why.

I've talked to a ton of people about their phones and apps. I've never talked to someone about lenses. That's strange.