Ipods and responsibility

I was at the gym this morning, doing some sit-ups when I thought I heard music. At first I thought I must be working out too hard but I definitely heard music. Stopping I looked around. There was a girl about 30 feet away from me lifting weights listening to an Ipod. She was jamming to the music oblivious to everyone around her.

A bit later I was in the steam room. I had my eyes closed, in my own world and I began hearing music again. Sure enough there was a guy on the other side of the room listening to an Ipod in the steam. I don’t know how smart it is for anyone to strap a battery to his body, put a transducer in his ear and complete the circuit with a bit of water.

The inner ear contains the smallest bones in the body and is the core to balance. The human ear can hear sounds as soft as a pin dropping from several feet away. I’m not a doctor but if I can hear music 30 feet away it can’t be good for the listener’s inner ear.

I wonder if someone will sue Apple someday because they lost their hearing or maybe sue a manufacturer someday because they shocked themselves in a steam room, disrupted their inner ear and now cannot function normally because they are dizzy. A lawyer will argue that the manufacturer should have put a label on the product to warn the consumer “playing at maximum volume may cause permanent damage to the ear” and “do not use this product in a steam room”. The last lawnmower I purchased had a sticker on the casing that said “do not use this mower while barefoot” - duh!!

I wish a defense could be the user of the product should have some common sense and take responsibility for their actions. Caveat emptor – let the buyer beware.

Insurance against lawsuits is big business. We could be using the money we are spending for insurance to protect us against these actions for better things like inventing and bringing to market new products.

Until next time – all the best!

RolandB