[fwlr]

I get it, I want to agree, I really do like the “this is a new tool in the toolkit of the professional software craftsperson” argument…

…but consider: the Q-tip. “Don’t use it to clean your ears”, but for most people that’s all they want to do with it, and empirical observation indicates that this dynamic results in either “using Q-tips irresponsibly” or “not using Q-tips”, with “uses Q-tips properly” being a small-to-vanishing proportion of the whole.

[ghthor]

Qtips are made for cleaning your ears. It says not to do that so they are NOT sued every time some idiot fucks up their ear with one.

[wizzwizz4]

But the part of the ear that needs cleaning can be reached without a cotton bud. This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus.

[simoncion]

> This is like shoving a sponge down your windpipe to remove mucus.

In my personal experience, not using a cotton-tipped swab for the task is like cleaning a plate loaded with gunk and burned-on patches with one's bare hands rather than choosing to use a sponge and/or brush. You can do it, [0] but it's much more work, much more time consuming, or you get an inferior result.

[0] In my case, I'd need to make one set of passes with paper wrapped around my smallest finger, and then another set with paper shaped into a tool that can lever the excess wax out from outer orifice of my ear canal.

[fragmede]

We live in the future. You can get an ear cleaning camera endoscope device for $40 next day Amazon delivery anywhere they reach.

[simoncion]

Unless you have a regular problem with impacted earwax that flushing with earwax-softening solutions doesn't solve, I don't see what actual problem an endoscope solves.

We do live in the future, but there are a bunch of gizmos that the future provides that generally aren't worth the hassle.

[wizzwizz4]

Or you could just take a shower, which makes it easy to wipe the excess earwax from your ear.

[fragmede]

Having heard of this shower thing before, it doesn't do the trick if your earwax is dry and waxy.