A Louisiana man is suing Apple Computers over allegations that the iPod is putting consumers' hearing at risk. John Kiel Patterson's lawsuit says that Apple do not do enough to warn their customers that using the iPod at high volumes, especially with the 'ear bud' headphones that come with the player, could result in noise-induced hearing loss.
Kiel points out that in 2002 French authorities forced Apple to limit the output of the iPod to 100dB. The computer firm complied, changing the software on iPods in Europe. However that change was not made in the US. He also argues that Apple does not do enough to warn its customers of hearing loss risks. While the iPod user manual does carry a general warning about listening to music through the earphones at "high volume", Kiel says the warning is unhelpful because it does not define 'high volume', nor does it advise on safe volume levels.
The lawsuit follows those previously reported comments made by The Who guitarist Pete Townshend last month, who said that, bearing in mind how many musician and producer friends he knew who now suffered from hearing problems, he feared the effect the widespread usage of headphone devices would have on the wider public's hearing. He wrote: "we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound. My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead".
Apple are yet to comment on the lawsuit.