are you seriously going to bring up the Failing Ugly article? The guy behind that article is all against AB, and claims to be an expert on CIs when he doesn't even have any CIs himself, doesn't personally work for any CI company, doesn't personally do ANYTHING with CIs himself (and has the tendency to twist words/facts around and exaggerate). I wouldn't believe the "garbage" he's publishing on that blog, because I don't trust the blogger. He's rubbed me the wrong way for years when it comes to the topic of CIs, especially when it comes to AB. I'll take baseballboy's experiences over this blogger's "info", because baseballboy has actual experience and can compare Cochlear with AB (not very many people get 1 manufacturer in 1 ear and another in the other ear).
AB has revised the internal component by adding a sheath to the electrode, so there shouldn't be any more "burning" or "shocking" sensations basically. And that only happened to 2 individuals who had severe cases of the shocking (they have since been reimplanted with AB implants and are doing great now).
And as for the CIs breaking/etc.. all three manufacturers have had their recalls and problems. The CI is a man-made product, so it is bound to quit functioning at any time. But each company will do what they can to make sure their products are as sturdy as possible. It's all a matter of personal preference really. I myself would still choose AB for myself.. Don't get me wrong, Cochlear has a great device, as does Med-El, but I'm more impressed with AB's product, despite their history of recalls.
