Like it or not, Apple wants to save your ears
Is Steve jobs turning into an overprotective nanny in his old age? As Apple continues its attempt at world domination through well-designed products and heavy advertising — at one point I saw Apple ads on four TVs simultaneously at my local sports bar, thanks NFL Sunday Ticket! — it's good to know that the company is looking out for our eardrums. Apple has gotten a patent that illustrates a technology for an automatic volume control. Your next iPod could calculate how long you've been listening to music at high volume, and reduce the volume for a "quiet time" before allowing you to increase the sound to full volume again.
Apple already lets users voluntarily cap their volume. But this is Apple taking matters into its own hands. The libertarian in me worries about the implications. I live in Massachusetts — we're the only state in the country to ever repeal mandatory seat-belt laws. Who is Apple to tell us how loud our music is?
Actually, this is a clever solution to a real problem. Just because the iPod can be turned up to 11, should it be able to? The European-spec iPod is restricted to 100 decibels of output, perhaps due to the EU's stringent consumer-protection laws, but the stateside version isn't. In fact, Apple was sued for not having "adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss."
Parents will like being able to protect their children's hearing and the kids probably won't notice any difference — and what they don't know won't hurt them, right?
