“Jeff Hurst, 24, and Gianni Lee, 19, love their music so much they listen to it on their iPods for hours – maybe too many hours,’ Shirley Wang reports for Hearing Loss News and Reviews. “Hearing experts wonder whether the frequent use of these devices, particularly with the inserts that sit within the ear, are contributing to noise-induced hearing loss. ‘The incidence of hearing loss is underappreciated,’ said Thomas Willcox, associate professor in otolaryngology at Thomas Jefferson University. ‘We’re going to have a boom of this population because of the increased exposures that previous generations haven’t had.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Previous generations? Hasn’t the Walkman been around for over 26 years now?
Wang continues, “Willcox has seen several teenage patients in the last year whose parents brought them in complaining that their kids listened to the television very loudly and didn’t respond when they were told to turn it down. The parents wanted to know if their kids were just being typical teenagers or if they had a hearing problem. ‘They don’t have ear disease,’ said Willcox. ‘The ultimate risk factor is that they’re using their iPods frequently.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In related news, jabbing scissors into your eyeballs can cause blindness. In all seriousness, though, be kind to your ears and keep the volume down on your iPod and any other device that makes sound, so that you’ll be able to hear well for your whole life. It isn’t an iPod issue, it’s a volume issue; making your ears ring is not a good idea.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
London bombing victim’s hearing ‘saved by his Apple iPod earphones’ according to doctors – July 11, 2005
What?! I’m assembling my lawyers and SUING APPLE NOW! This is criminal neglect of the worst kind!
In other news, swallowing bleach makes you ill.
Steve Jobs, my lawyers are coming to get you!
Do you think journalists automatically get paid more when an article contains the word ipod?
In other news…being an idiot has been found to be detrimental to society. AMERICA DOOMED!!
hmm.. if i plug my white earbuds into the tv at watch the OC at full volume..who do i sue
a)Apple
b)Sony (Walkman creator)
c)Toshiba (TV)
d)Fox (The OC)
Wow.. a real American quagmire..
The real problem is that our cities are so loud. If I want to hear my iPod over the subway noise, traffic noise, construction noise, etc, I need to crank up the volume. If I want it to blot out that noise completely, I need it even louder.
I guess I won’t have to worry about this…my 9-month old $400 iPod died yesterday! 🙁
or alternatively in extreme circumstances your ipod headphones can serve the opposite purpose
survivor of the London Bus Bomb:
“Tad Grglewiecz CIVIL ENGINEER FROM CRICKLEWOOD, NORTH LONDON,52
Doctors told him his hearing was saved by his iPod earphones.”
source:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article298304.ece
Ummm, here’s an idea, STOP PLAYING YOUR MUSIC SO LOUD!!!
In NYC, there are so many idiots listening to music at such a high volume that the rest of the subway/bus can hear them.
Is it a wonder they are going deaf? I’m tired of stupid people not taking responsibility for their own actions.
In other news, the world is round.
1. Try lower volume and realize you can get used to it and maybe even hear your music more clearly after all.
2. Pick phones that isolate outside noise without needing high volume. Lots of ways this can be done to different degrees.
3. Bonus: not getting mugged if you choose non-Apple buds!
Smart Guy, the standard warranty lasts a year… take it in to an Apple Store, or call the support line. You may be pleasantly surprised how much Apple is willing to help solve your problems with your iPod.
Of course, if it’s dead because you sent it through the laundry or something equally boneheaded and preventable, well, perhaps a name change is in order…
In other news, gorging on Krispy Kremes can damage your arteries. Someone alert Rob Glaser immediately!
Sony had a disclaimer years ago to the effect that “high volume settings can damage your ears” duh. This is nothing new just another dum dum writer looking for something to grab the publics attention, pure journalistic sensationalism at its poorest.
Apple have the same disclaimer too I believe
Whew… and I thought maybe MDN (and readers) would try and spin the two stories and somehow make it seem like the iPod is good for your ears.
Anything along those lines would be hypocrisy.
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Whew… and I thought maybe MDN (and readers) would try and spin the two stories and somehow make it seem like the iPod is good for your ears.
Anything along those lines would be hypocrisy.
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Whew… and I thought maybe MDN (and readers) would try and spin the two stories and somehow make it seem like the iPod is good for your ears.
Anything along those lines would be hypocrisy.
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Yea, what’s with this iPods can damage your hearing. Use any device with headphones that makes sound and crank it to the Max and you will damage your hearing. Not just on iPods. The iPod does have a very good volume controller on it. And if you use Apples remote headphones set it to has a volume control on it. So for the masses just keep the volume down and not just on your iPod.
This is a dumb article that trys to target the iPod as the only player that would make you deaf using a set of headphones. Like it’s Apple’s fault for unresponsible people cranking the volume to the Max wearing there headphones. You can ruin your hearing on any portable player going back to an FM radio wearing headphones.
I’m 46 and I’ve been jammin’ to loud rock music piped into my head through earphones since 1976, before the Walkman even came out. I rocked out with my Astratune, which was baskically a small car cassette player mated to a rechargable battery wrapped in a soft cordura case that was strapped to your chest and the tunes were fed to your ears through a stethoscope style headset. I gave snow skiing and skate boarding a whole new dimension.
Back then I was told I’d damage my hearing and I’ve been hearing this same old tired lame argument ever since. I’m still rockin’ with the volume up on my iPods and I can still hear just fine. Go figure!
What a flippin’ crock.
I remember a lot of similar stories back when portable cassette players started to sell like crazy.
Same old news different people/objects.
MacDailyNews doesn’t even try to hide the fact that it cannot but follow in lockstep with whatever Apple does or says. Whoever writes the ‘takes’ on issues for this website clearly hasn’t any equanimity.
Keep on rockin’ Old Rocker!
Sly, if you can put down that crack pipe long enough, come over to my house, I have invited some 6th graders over for bangers and spotted dick.