Posted on 12/31/2009 8:02:28 AM PST by martin_fierro
Apple wins appeal in earbud hearing-loss lawsuit By Sam Diaz, ZDNet Thursday, December 31, 2009 10:15 AM
Just because something can benefit from some improvement doesn't mean that it's necessarily bad for you. That's basically what a San Francisco appeals court said when it upheld a previous ruling that Apple iPod earbuds cannot be held responsible for hearing loss, according to a Reuters report.
In the ruling, a judge wrote that the plaintiffs didn't offer evidence to show that iPods earbuds were dangerous, only that they believed they could be made safer. The judge wrote:
The plaintiffs do not allege the iPods failed to do anything they were designed to do nor do they allege that they, or any others, have suffered or are substantially certain to suffer inevitable hearing loss or other injury from iPod use. At most, the plaintiffs plead a potential risk of hearing loss not to themselves, but to other unidentified iPod users.
In addition to money damages, the suit wanted a judge to require that Apple improve and provide better earphones, offer disclosures and test iPod users for hearing loss.
What?
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Heh heh. It’s always a pleasure to see looters eat it.
As Much as I don’t like Apple, people who listen to overly loud music on earbuds/headphones etc... Deserve the hearing loss they get by doing so.
Common Sense.... It is a rare commodity these days....
when the revolution comes the lawyers will need to be taken out with the first wave
"I'm suing Smith & Wesson!"
relax, plaintiffs ... there surely is a board or a bureau in that abomination of a health care bill that will step in and resurrect your case, all in the interests of saving healthcare dollars.
30 years in the Rhythm Section and I suffer high frequency hearing loss in at least my right ear.
Me and Ted Nugent.
I tell ALL my students to wear ear plugs when they practice. You can still hear the music but you have some protection.
I almost feel sorry for the lawyers who manufactured this case looking for a big payout.
Not.
>> “I’m suing Smith & Wesson!” <<
Good luck with that lawsuit, LOL
“I’m suing Smith & Wesson!”
Before or after you pull the trigger? LOL
Yep! We wear ear plugs to all the concerts we attend... too bad they weren’t as readily available in the 60’s & 70’s. My teenage trombone playing son would have a cow at the suggestion that his hearing is at risk!
I'm actually looking for a blastingly loud am/fm radio or am/fm/cassette-player. If anyone can recommend one that uses 3 batteries (or something that plays REALLY loud), please let me know. I need it in SF, to drown out our blastingly loud non-stop-talking buses. Seriously!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Egad, tell me about it.
I have horrible hearing do to an accident during my Navy years and am notoriously shy of places where the music is played too loud.
These days, I sit by kids on the train with ear-buds on and sometimes the music they play is so loud that it can disturb ME!!
I just shake my head and sigh, because I know those kids are going to be as deaf as a fence post in a few years — and it will be entirely their fault.
Three homeless guys in town here were walking along the railroad tracks; one of them was deaf, and was walking right down the middle. The other two got out of the way when they heard the train, and didn’t alert the third, who got run over.
Gotta be related.
Seems to me though, that, homeless or not, if I’m deaf, I’d never be walking between the rails.
Thanks martin for the ping. Appreciate it.
Happy New Year.
Yeesh. Apple already HAS done something about it: IIRC there is a “volume limit” setting on all iPods.
But you have to USE the volume limit. Every single loud “music” ipod listener I know would just override the limiter anyway and/or buy earphones that are more efficient (ie - louder with same power).
I too have some fairly pronounced hearing loss, particularly in higher frequencies - too many years participating in marching drum lines, playing drum set, and loud music in my car. When I was band directing, we had a rule on the bus (same one as when I was a student) - no loud music on the bus - as in, bring headphones. Don’t try to entertain the whole buss. Well - kids with ipods and other portable electronics would have those earbuds in - and I could be sitting several seats away and know exactly what song was playing, and if it was one I knew - sing along... They are doomed to far worse hearing than my own. And no amount of convincing would change their ways.
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