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Future iPods Will Shut Down if You've Been Listening Too Long

by Tim Stevens on December 26, 2007 at 12:28 PM

Apple Patents Automatic Volume Leveler for iPod

We've reported before on the possible negative effects of gadgets on hearing, and everyone should know at this point that listening to your iPod for too long with the volume cranked more or less guarantees you'll be rocking some sort of hearing aid in your later years. Now it seems Apple's taking steps to prevent that, securing a patent that will automatically decrease the volume on devices (presumably future iPods) after a period of time.

The patent describes a technique for monitoring the volume levels that you use to listen to your music. Listen for too long at a volume the software thinks is too loud and your iPod could automatically force you to have some "quiet time" to let your ears recover. This sounds a little irritating, like the digital equivalent of a speed limiter on a sports car. But, don't fret just yet. It's unknown whether this would be an optional thing or whether it would be mandated on all of Apple's music playing devices. It's also possible this is just intended as an alternative to the restrictions Apple currently places on European iPods, limiting the volume there due to European consumer-protection laws. If that's the case this would actually be an improvement.

It'll probably be at least a year before we start seeing this "feature" on any iPods, so we'll all have to wait and see.

From Digg and Valleywag

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Tags: Apple, breaking+news, Health, Hearing, iPod, top

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