Silly for the vast vast majority of people, yes, but not completely useless. One of my former roommates had the problem of water getting stuck in his ear that just wouldn't dislodge for days at a time.

I can hardly see an entire family using this though.

I'm not sure blowing heated earwax back up into the ear canal is going to do anyone much good.

i get ear infections and swimmers ear all the time because my ear canals are misshaped. but usually i just shake my head really hard and the water comes out (and i saved $100 apparently!)

yeah but its when the water gets REALLY up there that you'd kill anyone in sight if it meant you could get rid of that water. a few weeks ago i went swimming at madison park. i went off the high dive and water got like pressure injected into my skull. absolute murder. i did the jump on one foot thing, the qtip thing, the hang upside down thing, the pray to god thing, but nothing worked. just nothing but a splitting headache and an ear full of water at what felt like high pressure. couldn't get it out until like 3 am. this thing woulda helped.