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iPod Gets ‘Shushed’

March 30th, 2006

Those volume-hating surrender monkeys in France may have realised it a long time ago, but now the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that the 104 decibel iPod might just be too loud. Amid reports of recent studies showing that excessive use of a personal music player such as the iPod at high volumes can damage hearing, Apple has decided to limit the volume on the standard iPod and the iPod nano.

Although Apple didn’t make a direct link with yesterday’s announcement it is likely to be related to a January 31 lawsuit filed against Apple in US federal court which alleged iPods are defective and don’t come with sufficient hearing loss warnings.

A software update will allow a preferred maximum volume to be set so that parents can ensure their children aren’t damaging their ears.

“With the increased attention in this area, we want to offer customers an easy to use option to set their own personal volume limit,” said Greg Joswiak, vice president of worldwide iPod product marketing.

This is not the first time that Apple has bowed to pressure on the volume issue. In 2002 it started selling models in France limited to 100 decibels to comply with local regulations. In the USA the iPod manual itself states that the iPod can reach 104 decibels. This is a volume level that is likely to cause hearing damage after only six minutes.

The new software update 1.1.1 is available immediately as a free download for the iPod nano and the fifth generation iPod from www.apple.com/ipod/download. The new Volume Limit feature works with any headphone or accessory plugged into the iPod headphone jack as well as the iPod Radio Remote. For further information on safe listening with iPod, visit www.apple.com/sound.

Entry Filed under: Portable Music