Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCan you hear me now?
Students love cranking their iPods despite risks to hearing
By Jaimie Dalessio
Posted: 1/29/08, 10:58 PM EST Section: Feature
And yet students pump music directly into their ears every day.
Apple warns users to listen responsibly with a section on their Web site dedicated to sound and hearing, and documentation within iPod packaging.
The Web site reads, "Most research about noise-induced hearing loss has focused on prolonged exposure to loud sounds in industrial workplaces. While not as much research exists regarding the effect of recreational exposure to loud sound, if you listen to music and audio with headphones or earbuds…you should follow a few common-sense recommendations."
The recommendations Apple supplies are limited to "think about the volume" and "keep track of time."
Both are rules sophomore Andrew Lundgren follows. The marketing and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major keeps his iPod pumping around 60 percent of full-volume level. Lundgren said he knows he shouldn't play music louder than that or listen for longer than an hour at a time. "I try not to," he said.
Sam Kauff acknowledged he has no idea how to read or measure decibels. The sophomore communications and rhetorical studies major sports Apple iPod In-Ear Headphones he received as a gift. Unlike the standard iPod headphones, these block out surrounding noise, so users don't have to increase the volume to hear the music.
Sony makes similar headphones. Senior advertising major Katie Osterdahl wears them while she listens to her MP3 player.
"I'm really paranoid about destroying my hearing," she said. Osterdahl keeps her volume set to level three (out of 20) when it's quiet in the Newhouse computer labs.
But not all students are like Osterdahl.
The warnings don't faze senior sport management major Emmanuel Fernandez, who wears the standard iPod headphones.
"I've heard about iPods being detrimental to your hearing," he said, "but I don't pay attention."
Carrying an iPod is a fashion statement alone, but the headphones, the only part visible - popping out from under hats and up from inside coats - make a statement, too. Larger non-insert headphones covering the entire ear also cause less damage than the standard iPod headphones, because the music projects outward and not directly into the ear. But those "tend to be old fashioned," Fernandez said.
Apple warns users to listen responsibly with a section on their Web site dedicated to sound and hearing, and documentation within iPod packaging.
The Web site reads, "Most research about noise-induced hearing loss has focused on prolonged exposure to loud sounds in industrial workplaces. While not as much research exists regarding the effect of recreational exposure to loud sound, if you listen to music and audio with headphones or earbuds…you should follow a few common-sense recommendations."
The recommendations Apple supplies are limited to "think about the volume" and "keep track of time."
Both are rules sophomore Andrew Lundgren follows. The marketing and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major keeps his iPod pumping around 60 percent of full-volume level. Lundgren said he knows he shouldn't play music louder than that or listen for longer than an hour at a time. "I try not to," he said.
Sam Kauff acknowledged he has no idea how to read or measure decibels. The sophomore communications and rhetorical studies major sports Apple iPod In-Ear Headphones he received as a gift. Unlike the standard iPod headphones, these block out surrounding noise, so users don't have to increase the volume to hear the music.
Sony makes similar headphones. Senior advertising major Katie Osterdahl wears them while she listens to her MP3 player.
"I'm really paranoid about destroying my hearing," she said. Osterdahl keeps her volume set to level three (out of 20) when it's quiet in the Newhouse computer labs.
But not all students are like Osterdahl.
The warnings don't faze senior sport management major Emmanuel Fernandez, who wears the standard iPod headphones.
"I've heard about iPods being detrimental to your hearing," he said, "but I don't pay attention."
Carrying an iPod is a fashion statement alone, but the headphones, the only part visible - popping out from under hats and up from inside coats - make a statement, too. Larger non-insert headphones covering the entire ear also cause less damage than the standard iPod headphones, because the music projects outward and not directly into the ear. But those "tend to be old fashioned," Fernandez said.
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