For the last several years, user survey data have consistently indicated that hearing aid users have higher satisfaction with aids that include a directional mode of operation. The directional mode should provide improved speech intelligibility in at least some noisy environments, and the survey data consistently indicate higher in exactly these noisy environments. Recent clinical data indicate similar results. However, hearing aids with directional microphones have been available for at least 25 years, and have, until recently, never gained acceptance in the market. What can account for this sudden change in user preference? This talk will examine the technology of dual microphones and that of directional microphones to show that the two ways of providing directional hearing aids give nearly the same performance. The small differences in directional performance cannot explain the change in acceptance. However the lower sensitivity and higher internal noise of either type of directional pattern may be a disadvantage in quiet environments. It seems that the good performance of the directional patterns in noise needs to be augmented in quiet environments by a non-directional pattern. This can be done with either dual microphones, of the combination of a directional and a non-directional microphone.