Man Sues Apple Over Potential Hearing Loss - iPod players are "inherently defective

from yahoo

By DAN GOODIN, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - A Louisiana man claims in a lawsuit that Apple's iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it.

Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint.

The iPod players are "inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss," according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., on behalf of John Kiel Patterson of Louisiana.

The suit, which Patterson wants certified as a class-action, seeks compensation for unspecified damages and upgrades that will make iPods safer. Patterson's suit said he bought an iPod last year, but does not specify whether he suffered hearing loss from the device.

Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney, Steve W. Berman, of Seattle. But that's beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the iPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said.

"He's bought a product which is not safe to use as currently sold on the market," Berman said. "He's paying for a product that's defective, and the law is pretty clear that if someone sold you a defective product they have a duty to repair it."

An Apple Computer Inc. spokeswoman, Kristin Huguet, declined to comment.

Although the iPod is more popular than other types of portable music players, its ability to cause noise-induced hearing isn't any higher, experts said.

"We have numerous products in the marketplace that have the potential to damage hearing," said Deanna Meinke, an audiology professor at the University of Northern Colorado. "The risk is there but the risk lies with the user and where they set the volume."

The Cupertino-based company ships a warning with each iPod that cautions "permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume."

Apple was forced to pull the iPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels, but has not followed suit in the United States, according to the complaint. The headphones commonly referred to as ear buds, which ship with the iPod, also contribute to noise-induced hearing loss because they do not dilute the sound entering the ear and are closer to the ear canal than other sound sources, the complaint states.

one of the members from the Who is also claiming this..ll have to see if i can find the story again

I bet if I jam a pencil in my ear I'll loss some of my hearing.
These writing utensils and other objects that have the potential to be stuck in my ear ought to have a warning label on them. -calls lawyer up-

This is ludicrous lawsuit. Cars can go faster than the speed limit without warnings, too.

The device doesn't turn itself up to 11. As this is something entirely within his control, it's distinguishable from the abysmal McDonald's coffee case (itself the perfect illustration of the adage "hard cases make bad law"). This is more analogous to someone complaining that their microwave heated their food too much because they cooked it for too long a time.

Or, like the difference between a bartender serving someone until they were passed out, and someone chugging vodka in their own living room. People must accept some personal responsibility; the world is not wrapped in foam for their protection.

In terms of actual need, iPods are designed to plug into other devices (like a car stereo, via an AiNEt-> RCA, then RCA-> headphone jack adapter), where you might have to really crank the volume to approximate a line out.

It's lawyers who take cases like these who give the rest of us a bad name.

Jesus.

People who go to see Sunn 0))) concerts regularly come back with tinnitus.

People WANT music loud. One stupid cunt who can't turn down from 11 needs that much help turning the knob to a satisfactory setting that he's making it a design clause, JUST FOR HIM, that it can't breach the petty foil of his fluttering ear-beaters?

Christ. Give him a chainsaw without the 'No stop with hands or genitals' warning and let danger do the rest.

It's times like this I can see Darwin was wrong.

Most things can be dangerous in excess... some people are just stupid enough to attempt to exploit that for monetary gains. Or smart enough, I suppose.

The sun damaged my eyesight....There is no warning label on that thing either...I am gonna sue God!!