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January 4, 2006
Pete Townshend Warns iPod Users to Watch Their Ears
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Pete Townshend, from his Blogger profile |
"I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal components deaf," he said on his website. "Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you MAY be OK ... But my intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead."
I remember when I was a kid, I spent countless hours blasting Who albums using various mobile devices, including cassette walkmans and portable CD players. (Pete's right; he definitely helped create a genre of music that demands to be played really, really loud.) But it seems that each time there's been a new generation of mobile audio, there have been warnings from experts about the effect of these devices on our hearing. I have no doubt that my hearing was affected by walkman use, not to mention guitar playing and countless concerts, but I honestly don't know by how much, since my hearing remains pretty good. Haven't there been longitudinal studies about fellow Gen Xers who grew up with the Walkman? If so, it seems that warnings like Pete's would be more powerful if they happened in conjunction with the publishing of research showing what happens to our ears after years of mobile audio use.
Granted, I still listen to my iPod all the time. (Sorry, Pete, haven't uploaded Quadrophenia yet.) But I definitely am more aware of the audio levels I use, particularly when compared to my teenage years, when no volume could be too loud. I just wish the iPod would start to vibrate or flash or spew noxious fumes each time I accidentally turned the volume too loud.
Anyway, thanks to Mr. Townshend for the public service reminder - we should all be more sensitive to our iPod use. Wonder if he plans to make a podcast warning as well; if so, hope he doesn't record it too loud. :-) -andy
Posted by acarvin at January 4, 2006 10:33 PM
Listen to a computer-generated podcast of this article
