Congressman concerned about MP3 players, hearing loss

Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey asks National Institutes of Health to determine if devices are contributing to hearing loss.

The story "Congressman concerned about MP3 players, hearing loss" published January 26, 2006 at 4:57 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[Joe Blow]

OH, PUH-LEEEEEZE!!!

When the heck are these politicians going to learn what's really important to worry about??? This guy really does need to change his name to Malarkey, because that's exactly what he's full of, and his constituents ought to be demanding that he get HIS hearing checked to make sure he's getting the message, loud and clear, that anybody who might care about this (consumer protection groups, public health researchers, the media, etc.) would have already raised a red flag(instead of the red herring Malarkey is waving) back when the first ear buds came onto the market, which predates the iPod, or any other media player, by at least a decade.

Oh, and BTW, if anyone isn't aware of the potential problems associated with listening to electronically-reproduced sound at excessive levels by now, there's not a whole lot the federal government is going to be able to do about such stupidity. What's next, "Water may cause drowning!", "Fire can burn!", "Smoking can make you stink!"???

Get a grip, on your way to getting a life, you political idiots (this includes his staffer lawyers who obviously didn't invest in Apple at the last low point in its stock price).

To everyone else, All the Best, and Rock/Classical/Pop/Jazz/R&B/Country&Western/Fusion/etc. On!

Joe Blow

[dUc0N]

Just another Darwin lawsuit

"[People] need to know whether they are at risk for premature hearing loss and how to protect themselves." It's not that hard though. Turn the volume down. Congressman Markey seems to have just told America's entire consumer population that they lack the intelligence to operate an MP3 player safely. Is he really that deluded, or just attention starved? Must be hard when you have to grope blindly for the next big piece of legislation like he's doing.

[ddesy]

This again?

Hasn't the whole headphone issue been brought up many times in the past by others? It doesn't matter if you have a cassette player, CD player, MP3 player, home stereo, or anything else. Any of them can play at high volume levels.

And as to the remark that "Apple has declined to reveal how loud its iPods can go," good for them.! The iPod on it's own cannot determine volume level. Things that need to be taken into considering include the level at which audio is recorded, the amplifier's power level, the impedance level on the chosen headphones, etc...

[RawkerShane]

Are in-ear headphones new?

When will we stop rehashing things of the past? Portable music players have been apart of our lives since the late 70's when the first Walkman was released and earbud headphones have been around since the mid-late 80's. This is just like the recording industry crying about their demise due to piracy. Remember that debate back in the day when the industry was going to die because of cassettes and home recording? How about the death of the movie industry because of the VCR? This old coot is just looking to get his name in the press. If you're too stupid to turn the volume down on your mp3 player, then you deserve hearing loss. On a tangent, iPod's days are numbered unless they evolve more quickly. Get a SanDisk E Series Sansa player and you can expand it's memory since it has an SD card slot.

[Anonymous Hero]

You guys are missing the point

Ipod sales have exploded and everyone and their mother has one these days. I see a lot of idiots on the subway who crank up their ipods all the way, partly because the train is loud, so they choose to turn the volume up to drown the noise and basically destroy their hearing. This happens because most people are not educated on this subject, especially teenagers.

You can say that people's health is their own problem, but at this pace in about 10 years we will be surrounded by half-deaf Ipodites, which I guarantee will be an inconvenience to you!