Petteri Pyyny
3 Feb 2006 12:44
A customer has filed a class action complaint against Apple in California court claiming that Apple's mega-popular portable audio player, iPod, does allow too high level of music volume and doesn't state it clearly enough that using the product in high volume levels can cause hearing loss.
iPods sold in Europe are limited by device's firmware to maximum of 100 decibels, but units sold in States can produce sound levels of up to 115 decibels. According to the complaint "millions of consumers have had their hearing put at risk by Apple's conduct".
However, iPod manuals already state it clearly that using player's headphones at high volume levels can potentially cause permanent hearing loss. The complaint tries to override this by stating that Apple did not advise users about what constituted a high volume or a safe level of noise.
As a sidenote: the first portable audio player, that produces the same effect as iPods -- high audio levels via headphones, was called Sony Walkman and was first sold in 1979.
Source: Financial Times