Future iPods Will Shut Down if You've Been Listening Too Long

[NightWatcher]

forgive me if this is a repost.

You have got to scroll down to the comment from Laurie in Ojai towards the bottom of the page. I think it might be one of us.

"We've reported before on the possible negative effects of gadgets on hearing, and everyone should know at this point that listening to your iPod for too long with the volume cranked more or less guarantees you'll be rocking some sort of hearing aid in your later years. Now it seems Apple's taking steps to prevent that, securing a patent that will automatically decrease the volume on devices (presumably future iPods) after a period of time.

http://www.switched.com/2007/12/26/future-ipods-will-shut-down-if-youve-been-listening-too-long/

[KitchenWitch]

1. Is there a link?

[NightWatcher]

2. sorry, starting drinking already. is fixed now

[alarimer]

3. But what if it is plugged into your car?

Or a stereo? It won't be able to tell the difference. And in order for it to play at a reasonable volume through my car stereo, the Ipod volume has to be at least 50%, maybe higher.

[NightWatcher]

4. that's what my SO said...another un-thought-out corporate idea

[ghostsofgiants]

5. Fucking music fascists.

[krispos42]

6. Well then, no more iPods for me.

I think I've used my iPod with headphones once since I got it. I don't like not having my eyes occupied, so I'd rather read and listent to background noise than listen to music and stare at nothing.

It is ALWAYS plugged into a boombox at work or sometimes my car, in both cases via a tape adapter. And it goes all night tirelessly, like a great lover.

:evilgrin:

[Initech]

7. I should probably upgrade mine before this new technology hits.

Argh, damn music fascists!

[LeftyMom]

8. I'm already hard of hearing. If it's not cranked up, I can't fucking hear it.

What a bunch of fuckwits. x(

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Good. They should make it so it shuts off in public, too, like at the gym or subway.

Fucking assreaming piece of shit with their loudass fucking headphones.

If you wanna ruin your hearing, fine - do it home, or ask me and I'll shove a screwdriver through your ear.

But don't force to listen to your shit.

[tavalon]

10. That's the way I feel when people blast their music in their cars

No matter how great your musical taste, I don't care to sample it while we're waiting at a stop light!

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Damn right! Or from your home, or your backyard, or your assholebox at the beach.

:mad:

[tavalon]

12. Actually, I have to say,

the beach has gotten a lot quieter since the advent of the ipod and other assorted mp3 players.

[MagickMuffin]

13. I set my iPod to a low setting already

But my mailman on the other hand listens to his mp3 player (not sure of his brand) extremely loud. I can hear him coming, I hear him sitting in my front room, I can hear him when he is across the street. When I'm in my studio I can hear him coming from the long walk from his last house, maybe 50'/60' away.

I intend to have a discussion with him about this. I would hate for someone to lose their hearing at such an early age, I'd say possibly in his mid 30's.

Once when we went to look for car stereos, the salesman let us listen to his personal stereo. OMGoddess, I couldn't believe how loud he listened to music. He told us how he jams out with his young kid in tow. I felt sorry for his son.

Don't get me wrong I like to listen to music at relatively loud volumes, I have started listening at lower volumes particularly if I'm using my iPod. After all, one needs to be able to hear what's taken place in one's environment. I want to know if someone is approaching me, or if there is an emergency vehicle nearby.

I have pretty good hearing and my last job was cacophony of industrial noises, bad heating system that roared like a dragon. The phone system wasn't worth a crap. A sink that was used as an overflow drain. All of these sounds/noises were in my domain/office.
I was told my hearing was bad:shrug: But the truth of the matter was the cheap A**hole who owned the company. I can hear helicopters from very long distances. After I left that place my ears thanked me for it.

Back on topic: I think there should be public service announcement explaining the dangers of listening to music, ANY kind of music at high volumes, while using headphones in particular. A well informed public and all that jazz. People hardly ever think about these issues. I consider this a health issue, all in all.

I want to enjoy having my hearing until I die.

[Fleshdancer]

14. Corporate nannies?

We're suppose to regulate THEM, they're not suppose to regulate US. This is officially creepy.

[ChazII]

15. Between corporate nannies and nanny states

what ever happend to letting us live the way we want?

[REP]

16. Yet another crazy Apple rumor and just as likely to be untrue

Chances are very high this is either untrue or misreporting of a possible option. But hey, they're a big company, so they're probably evil.