[onion2k]

The research necessary to make a better hearing aid (improved batteries, noise cancelling circuitry, miniaturization of electronics, etc) cost billions. I imagine it was inevitable that the research would have happened eventually, but it would have taken longer and it would have been patented and expensive to license. It's very likely that the hearing aid industry wouldn't have had the resources to buy in the necessary tech to make a cost effective product until several decades later than it has. They might not even have done it by now if we hadn't reached the moon.

It's all speculation of course, but if you look at the rate of technological advancement pre-Moon landings compared to post-Moon landings, it does look a lot like the Apollo programme was an inflection point.