SAN FRANCISCO -- A Louisiana man claims in a lawsuit that Apple's iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it. Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint. The iPod players are "inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss," according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., on behalf of John Kiel Patterson of Louisiana. The suit, which Patterson wants certified as a class-action, seeks compensation for unspecified damages and upgrades that will make iPods safer. Patterson's suit said he bought an iPod last year, but does not specify whether he suffered hearing loss from the device. Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney, Steve W. Berman, of Seattle. But that's beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the iPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said. "He's bought a product which is not safe to use as currently sold on the market," Berman said. "He's paying for a product that's defective, and the law is pretty clear that if someone sold you a defective product they have a duty to repair it." An Apple Computer Inc. spokeswoman, Kristin Huguet, declined to comment. Although the iPod is more popular than other types of portable music players, its ability to cause noise-induced hearing isn't any higher, experts said. "We have numerous products in the marketplace that have the potential to damage hearing," said Deanna Meinke, an audiology professor at the University of Northern Colorado. "The risk is there but the risk lies with the user and where they set the volume." The Cupertino-based company ships a warning with each iPod that cautions "permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume." Apple was forced to pull the iPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels, but has not followed suit in the United States, according to the complaint. The headphones commonly referred to as ear buds, which ship with the iPod, also contribute to noise-induced hearing loss because they do not dilute the sound entering the ear and are closer to the ear canal than other sound sources, the complaint states. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/nationalnews/6679805/detail.html ----------------------------------------------------------- Another one of those "I can't take responsibility for my actions" lawsuits. What a load of crap... ViperDragon
That's idiotic. Why not go sue a rock concert while you're at it? This guy is the reason for instructions on the back of Pop-Tarts. If they weren't there, he would jam his hand into the toaster instead of the Pop-Tart and sue.
OMG. This for real? If you want money that bad, go out and get a job. This is ridiculous, I'm going to sue television for all those hours I've wasted in front of it watching TV shows. I mean really, what have I gained? I know various 80's cartoons and Star Trek the Next Generation quite well, but in doing so I've wasted many hours of paid work. In fact, if it wasn't for TV, I 'could' be a Lawyer, on £100'000 a year, so for all those earnings I lost I want... oohhh, £20'000'000'000. And if that figure seems too high, my Maths suffered also because of TV. Go me.
I caught this earlier today, and can't decide what bothers me more: That someone would do this, or that he has a legitimate chance. I think it's important to draw special attention to, "Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney." Somehow, that just twists the knife for me.
Wow... this smacks of teh stupppid. What they need to do is sit him in front of a speaker tower at the next local rock concert. Directly in front. The whole concert.
There's been an onslaught of articles about a generation destined for hearing problems, blahblahblah, and all invariably zoom in on the iPod and it's 'earbuds,' and how they're more dangerous than regular headphones. Y'know, Apple didn't invent the things, they've been around for 20 fucking years. I walked around for all four years of high school (with a walkman mind you) with Sony 'earbuds' stuck in my ears. Between that and all the concerts I've been to, many of which I stood so close to the speakers/front that my ears didn't stop ringing until the next day, I'm virtually assured hearing loss in the future. But 20 years ago, people didn't even think to sue for stupid shit like this. This guy reads one of those articles, knows that in today's tobacco/GTA/fast-food lawsuit nation, somebody will take the case and that he has a decent shot at getting away with it. Motherfucker probably doesn't even use the iPod. He just went out and bought one so he could turn around and sue. *sigh*
Bah, this has been tried many times before. In the late 80s/early 90s it was the walkman. now it's the most popular thing the Ipod. But yeah, the fact that he can't even pin the hearing loss to the Ipod is pretty ridiculous.
I spilled hot McDonalds coffee in my ear. I plan on suing them because it burned the inside of my ear.
*puts iPod down* WHAT DID YOU SAY?! *reads* OMG, i'm gunna sue those bastards! ........ *doesn't own an iPod*
I'm fairly sure this was done before with the Walkman, resulting in those "READ ME FIRST OMG DON'T GO DEAF" inserts in later shipments. This is purely a money grab, nothing more. It deserves to be laughed out of court. -XCN-
Isn't anybody gonna stand up and say he should win? I know he shouldn't, but usually someone takes the opposing point.
Let me get this straight: this guy is suing Apple not for something that HAS happened, but for something that MIGHT happen? Hasn't he heard of an off switch? Then again, shouldn't he sue himself for a massive loss in common sense? :
