Who cares? Let those who want to spend more money and/or have insurance go ahead and spend it on expensive eye care -- but for those with less money and/or no insurance, why stop them from using a tool like this, which is surely better than the nothing they're getting today?
I don't even know half of what the optometrist's office does. The bright light that shines into your eyes, the pupil dilator, all seems unnecessary. Those alphabet tests - really, the difference between two different 'powers' is so minimal I can barely make out. Call me a cynic - but the eye exam is an enormous waste of money and time. This device is perhaps what we need for fast and reliable eye care.
Oh and let me not even go to the spectacles cost. 150$ for a 'cheap' titanium frame, ya right :).
The equipment in the optometrist's office uses Shack-Hartmann equations, while EyeNetra uses its inverse of that. Therefore, it is gives similarly accurate results, based on which, a Doctor can prescribe the glasses. The reason the optometrist's equipments are expensive is because they are fighting against human eye, which is very efficient in absorbing light. EyeNetra is really an optical hack, but quite an elegant one at that.