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journal: mac · toy
Ambulance Chasing: Apple sued over iPod volume
This just in from the “Court TV Watchers Club” department…
Get your popcorn, Judge Judy fans; the fun’s about to begin! Again. The Associated Press reports that a Louisiana man is suing Apple because the iPod can cause hearing loss if listened to at high volumes over extended periods of time. Plaintiff John Kiel Patterson hopes the suit gains class-action status, potentially giving iPod owners the chance to be compensated for any possible hearing loss caused by their iPods. The claim states that the iPod is “inhenerntly defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss.”
Apple specifically mentions the following on page 62 of the iPod 5G documentation:
Set your iPod volume to a safe level. If you experience ringing in
your ears, reduce the volume or discontinue use of your iPod.
Warning: Permanent hearing loss may occur if earbuds or
headphones are used at high volume. You can adapt over time
to a higher volume of sound that may sound normal but can be
damaging to your hearing. If you experience ringing in your ears or
muffled speech, stop listening and have your hearing checked.
The louder the volume, the less time is required before your
hearing could be affected. Hearing experts suggest that to
protect your hearing:
- Limit the amount of time you use earbuds or headphones at
high volume.- Avoid turning up the volume to block out noisy surroundings.
- Turn the volume down if you can’t hear people speaking
near you.
Deep Thought’s take:”America, land of the lawsuit! God bless her!” -Steve Dallas, Bloom County by Berke Brethred
I’m not going to comment on Mr. Patterson’s motives, because we just don’t know what those motives are (and it would probably border on libel, thus opening us and our near-zero budget up to a lawsuit--eek!). But all this legal wrangling leads me to ask: are we really too far away from having giant warnings like, “Use of this bed may cause oversleeping, possibly resulting in job loss”, “WARNING: this soap may remove unwanted body filth”, or “Do not eat iPod Shuffle”? Oh wait, that last one was actually used (oh, those clever Apple lawyers!). Regardless, if you’re going to sue Apple, you might as well sue virtually anyone who makes a device with a headphone jack.
For the rest of us, though, I’ll say it again: be nice to your ears! Use some common sense and turn the volume down!
More Info
AP: Man Sues Apple Over Potential Hearing Loss
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| Nick | comments | views |
thinkback
I wonder if we can sue all these sue-happy idiots for causing extreme emotional distress among Apple fans and stockholders? Their lawsuits can potentially damage our net worth and our enjoyment of Apple products, and we’re stressed out about it.
Maybe we should make the Plaintiff Lawyers Association (or some group like that) be (co)defendants and put an end to this litigation insanity. For sure, my suggestion will have more merit than the idiot in Louisiana who has not even experienced hearing loss yet.
A great feature for these things is a parental lock on the volume. Pete Townsend recently stated that his hearing loss was due to headphones in the studio, not the rock concerts.
My boys aren’t old enough to have an iPod, but when they are I’m going to find headphones that have a safe limit on the volume.
| Feb. 02, 2006 | ||
| 10:06 am |
I wonder if we can sue all these sue-happy idiots for causing extreme emotional distress among Apple fans and stockholders?
Yes, and the PC zealots will sue back for emotional stress caused by mean TV commercials. 
| Feb. 02, 2006 | ||
| 10:07 am |
Nah, we’ll just sue everyone who says M$ for defamation of reputation.
| Feb. 02, 2006 | |
| Liam | 6:34 pm |
Another shining example of the US legal system allowing a waste of taxpayers money. The judge should set an example and put the lawyer and him in jail for misusing court time.
Actually that guy has a good point.
In Japan, most of the stock earphones are not designed for simply playing loud music, they are more or less designed for :
- blocking out outside noise, resulting in better sound clarity and thus reduced volumes
- open air design, where you hear your surroundings as well as the music, here people will tend to amplify their music a bit more but not in public
Of course people buy more expensive ear/headphones that isolates the music from outside noise far better than normal phones. There is really no need to crank up the volume unless the recordings are inferior in the first place.
I believe the earbuds that comes on every iPod as well as the PSP are all just entry level phones designed for nothing more than just cheap representatives on an already cheap media for music.
Informer: Sure, but here in “Bigger, better, badder, stronger, louder” America, we like our cars fast, our women hot and our music loud. Hence, all the music playback devices are able to be cranked up a good amount. Actually, sometimes I think my iPod Nano’s volume could be just a little more, but then my hearing has been destroyed from years of loud music and playing drums anyway. 
But the point is, there are people who like to crank their volume (and even buy amplification devices because it isn’t loud enough), so those with more sensitive hearing need to be aware that they CAN damage their hearing.
Besides, Apple is hardly the only headphone manufacturer in the US with a potentially-damaging product. This guy needs to realize that almost every pair of headphones he can buy will do the same thing, so suing Apple is pretty much pointless. Unless he wants the obvious warning that everyone else has been implying.
| Feb. 05, 2006 | |
| Arden | 6:24 pm |
It seems this lawyer defended MS during their antitrust lawsuit:
http://www.hagens-berman.com/frontend?comma nd=Staff&task=viewStaffDetail&iStaffId=1 0
It gets interesting!
| Nick | Feb. 05, 2006 | |
| 10:33 pm |
Arden,
Some good points. It is true that the problem lies not only with Apple but a wealth of other companies using cheap headsets. But those are usually always replaced whereas the white ones that comes with iPods aren’t. People who don’t know better might actually think that they’re good.
I think the quality of music has depreciated by a large quantity. Thrashy sounds, thrashy headphones, thrashy results. People don’t care these days as long as they’re hearing “something” (otherwise known as MP3s).
I don’t get how the cost of the headphones has anything to do with how loud they get. Really expensive headphones can be really loud.
| Feb. 06, 2006 | ||
| 9:51 am |
Simple.
Garbage in garbage out.
Expensive headphones amplifies the garbage better, cheap headphones makes them sound even worst.
OK. I understand that you think the iPod and the iPod’s ear buds are garbage. We get that. Thank you.
What does that have to do with hearing loss caused by excessive volume? Anything?
| Feb. 07, 2006 | ||
| 9:46 am |
I read an Ars review of the PSP and they said the ear buds that come with it are garbage like all ear buds that come with these devices (paraphrasing).
| Feb. 15, 2006 | ||
| 12:10 pm |
Maybe we need to put stickers on all devices which can make noises over 65 decibels? Might help.... stickers don’t cost much, and I can tell you, it sure is a pain to have poor hearing.
1.
This guy is almost as big a nutjob as some nutjobs we know, Nick.
I hope the judge orders him to pay the Stupid Police for services rendered.