Not to my knowledge. Background noise, white noise, feedback, and speech are all very difficult to deal with for hearing aids. Additionally, hearing aids need to be programmed to your specific hearing loss to be optimally effective. I doubt that iPods can compete in these areas, especially if they’re not programmed by an audiologist for individual hearing loss. That said, anything that can help people get some semblance of their normal hearing back is better than nothing. Losing your hearing is life changing. Many people are too insecure, or too proud to get hearing aids, and their quality of life suffers significantly. If those people will wear iPods as hearing aids, or people who can’t afford actual hearing aids can afford iPods, then this is a very good development.