Report: Apple to Reduce Hearing Damage with iPod Volume Control
Apple is reportedly working on a new iPod feature that automatically regulates volume levels to make sure you don't damage your hearing with excessively loud playback, according to the The Daily Mail.
In patents filed by Apple, The Daily Mail reports, the company is developing technology that allows an iPod's volume to gradually reduce itself after prolonged listening at high volumes. The feature will determine how much time was spent between listening sessions to the iPod and then will gradually decrease or increase the volume to the desired "safe level."
The volume control feature is likely based on research from the Mayo Clinic which found that prolonged listening to loud music on portable media devices can damage hearing. In 2006 Apple even faced a class-actoin suit filed against it for its lack of audio protection in U.S. iPods, as compared to the European models that were required to limit sound levels at 100 decibels.
Apple does deserve a quiet applause for responding to these growing concerns. But I've grown up with everyone around me telling me to turn down my darned music. Once my iPod joins into the mix telling me what's too louch things have gone too far.
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A solution looking for a problem? How is a mp3 player different than CD player or a tape player or even a pocket radio? I sure don't see how Apple could face liability.
The "problem" is that many of us LIKE loud music. The louder the better. Look at the car audio monstrosities. Many of us would strap a kilowatt sound system to our bodies if we could, complete with sub-woofers directed inwardly.
The day after Apple's new NannyPod appears, a hack will be available to circumvent it's protective software..
The only real solution in a Free Society is education. There should be plenty of stone-deaf Baby Boomers around to serve as examples of what happens when we ignore physics & physiological limitations. We just need to find a way to drive home the Fact that you WILL regret it later when you've made yourself deaf just for the thrill of it.
Why must this feature be forced upon us? Why can't it be an elective with the touch of a choice? I will definitely not buy a new ipod. I will now start comparing the ipod to other mp3's.
Fred Perucki
Elizabeth, N.J.