Comments on: Apple Sued over iPod Hearing Loss Claims

By: Dex

Dex — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:01:25 +0000

I can't believe not one person in here stepped back and noticed that this lawsuit is not frivolous. I would bet most everyone here has suffered from ringing ears after being in an environment that they never realized was loud enough to do damage. The problem with noise-induced hearing loss, is you're not always aware that it is occurring. The music doesn't have to BLARE to do damage, it does damage at much lower levels than when it is maxed out. The guy in the suite is specific with his claims and has gone to such lengths to propose solutions that it is clear that he feels that this is a problem that would go unnoticed until it was too late for many people, and by that time, those people would notice everything a little less because their hearing would have become impaired. Personal responsibility is hard to argue in this case, because in many cases it would not be clear that damage was being done a little at a time until it was too late and the permanent damage had acculumated.

By: Peter Douet

Peter Douet — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 09:25:07 +0000

I LOST 70% of my hearing in one weekend traveling with my iPod!

I used my iPod traveling from Sacramento,Ca to Santa Rosa,Ca. one weekend. From that day on my hearing wasn't the same. To me what i hear now constantly is like i still have on the iPod headphones.

I went to ucDavis and they were surprised how much hearing was lost and how fast it took place.

At first I thought I had wax in my ear after the trip. But after 2 weeks with no change I purchase an ear cleaning kit from the drugs store and after using it NO wax came out. So a few weeks later I contacted ucDaves.

I NOW NEED A HEARING AiD FOR BOTH EARSSSSSSSSS!

By: Dr Page

Dr Page — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 09:20:27 +0000

Maybe this guy needs it so loud because his brain is so far from his ears, the echo must be terrible!

By: djrobber

djrobber — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 05:54:54 +0000

apparently apple put this warning in the manual,
in big capital letters. same sort of nuisance claims
happened to sony with the walkman.

By: Lindsay DiBenedetto

Lindsay DiBenedetto — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:14:44 +0000

Yes I think the only solution would be to have a warning in the manual that one should not listen to music so loudly. (Duh!) Why would anyone listen to music that loudly? Obviously anyone whith half a brain should realize that music should not be that loud because it could harm your hearing. I just think it is a shame that people think they can sue people for anything they want. Unless Mr. John Patterson has truly been hurt by iPod earphones, he should just go back home to Louisiana.

By: Ron Koenig

Ron Koenig — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:59:43 +0000

Who would be stupid enough to play their headphones at 130 decibels? A simple warning in the operating manual is all Apple needs to do. Apple could settle this out of court with that remedy if all this guy wants is a better warning and not lots of money.

By: Paulino Nunes

Paulino Nunes — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:19:59 +0000

I assume that Mr. Patterson will also sue Stanley's for not putting a label on their hammers that reads "Smashing hammer head into your own head may cause an owie".

These kinds of suits get tossed out here in Canada, so no-one bothers launching them in the first place. If a woman put a hot coffee between her legs and started driving around here, I'm sure the judge would tell here to smarten up. The whole situation is a sad reflection on a country with so many intelligent people with so much to offer. Yours is a litigious society and that, unfortunately reflects very badly on those of you who actually take responsibility for yourselves.

cheers,
a Canadian friend

By: norbert

norbert — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 17:30:23 +0000

I say let's bombard the Lawyers who actaully represent these guys. They are just as culpable for taking on such cases.

Insert your pet peeve frivolous lawsuit here:

http://www.hbsslaw.com/report_a_fraud.jsp“ title=”http://www.hbsslaw.com/report_a_fraud.jsp“ target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.hbsslaw.com/report_a_fraud.jsp

By: California

California — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 16:11:21 +0000

So if a company sells cookies with mercury as one of the ingredients, they are not liable? After all, the ingredients are clearly listed, isn't it the consumer's responsibility to check every food product he purchases for harmful ingredients?

Defective products are the company's responsibility. They are making money off of it, they should be responsible for making sure no one gets hurt. I've used iPod earbuds before (I don't own an iPod), and I was surprised at how much louder than my regular earbuds they are. If you've never used earbuds, they are very different from speakers or even regular headphones, because they are _inside_ your ear, making everything way louder. This is the nature of headphones, and Apple, knowing that their headphones were especially loud (even at lower volume settings, mind you), should have changed the design. Instead, they included it as a standard feature, endangering the consumer.

Unless this man is trying to win money for himself (without having suffered hearing loss), I applaud him for his efforts. Someone has to watch out for the consumer. That is why the justice system exists, for accountability. If a suit is the only way to get Apple to package safer headphones with the iPod, then so be it.

By: Ed Livingston

Ed Livingston — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:08:31 +0000

This lawsuit is an attack on both reason and justice: i.e. upon a sensible society and upon its system of adjudication. The court which receives this should dismiss it without any hearing. If not an idiot, the complainant is either a thief in sadsack who would steal from us all, or perhaps only another profoundly irresponsible person.

By: Bob down the street

Bob down the street — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 14:06:54 +0000

Personal Responsibility is apparently a quaint notion from a bygone era consigned to the ash can along with Critical Thinking and Compassion. What a world!

By: David Wallace

David Wallace — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 13:57:10 +0000

Just another example of misplaced responsibility, blame the company instead of the consumer. No wonder this country is going down the drain, we do not accept reponsibility for our own actions, we have to blame someone else, and it actually makes it's way into the courtroom. When will it end?

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 13:51:35 +0000

I feel it is the user’s responsibility to protect his/her health. If the earphones are defective then it is there responsibility to invest new ones in order to protect there self. You don’t put your hand on a table saw when the saw is spinning, do you? They have noise canceling headphones at Wal-Mart for under $50.00. This is just another example of some one trying to get rich off of corporate America. GET A JOB, this is a high school student saying that!

By: Jeremy Eyler

Jeremy Eyler — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 13:45:46 +0000

I'm not sure what's sadder, that there's people out there dumb enough to turn up the volume on these things all the way, or that this guy is actually going to get away with this lunacy (a la McDonald's hot coffee warning suit).

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:46:00 +0000

It sounds like this guy probably has not had hearing damage but that he has researched this “bug” in the player enough to know he could probably get away with a lawsuit. What a shame.