alt Hacker NewsSeems to be some misunderstanding of what bike bells are for here...
A bell is helpful in a situation where a pedestrian is not aware of an approaching bike. The bell informs the pedestrian of two things:
1. That there is an approaching bike.
2. Roughly were the bike is approaching from.
The hope is that the pedestrian will then behave in a predictable way to allow a safe pass by the bike. In almost all cases the pedestrian will be able to simply continue doing what they were doing before they heard the bell.
If a pedestrian can not hear bike bells, for whatever reason, that is not a problem. They can just stay consistent with the centreline of the path/road/way. They then have a responsibility to shoulder check when shifting from side to side.
Not sure I understand your criticism.
Yes, bike bells are for pedestrians to hear.
Problem: Pedestrians today wear ANC noise cancelling, thus being unable to hear approaching bikes' bells.
Skoda: We made a bell with a frequency usually not cancelled by ANC, so these pedestrians still hear it.
Sounds reasonable to me.