iPod
users face the music, adjust the volume,
please
Aneya Fernando
According to CNN.com, there’s been a major controversy concerning iPods
and hearing loss. That’s right.
Adults and teenagers alike are suddenly realizing if they turn up the music ridiculously
loud, they could become deaf. What a shocker. What’s alarming to me is
that these people are actually making millions of dollars off their own stupidity.
Earlier this year, a Louisiana man filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc.,
claiming the iPod can cause hearing loss in people who use it. What kind of idiot
is this man? Or is he just trying to make some extra money in a land where people
sue McDonald’s for making them fat?
Who knows. All I know is that people should not be praised for stupidity. And
they certainly shouldn’t be making bank for it. Apple says in its user
manual there is a warning label about listening to music at high volumes. Maybe
that Louisiana man should learn how to read.
Because of all the hoopla, including several lawsuits against Apple, iPods now
contain new software so the owners will be able to set exactly how loud their
digital music players can go. In addition, parents can use this feature to set
a limit on their child’s iPod, as well as lock it with a code. Talk about
censorship.
What’s next? Are the parents going to go through their child’s playlist
and delete every song that contains even the slightest derogatory comment toward
women and children? What has the world come to?
Don’t get me wrong. Suing is great. It’s the “American Dream.” It’s
being able to get back at those SOBs who got the best of you.
But when you sue for things people with the tiniest bit of common sense could
comprehend, you’re just using your freedom and rights in this country for
the wrong causes. If Apple has to actually modify iPods and iTunes or create
a new product just to satisfy some imbecilic customers, I think that’s
completely ridiculous.
All of this seems to be just another excuse to publicize America’s ignorant,
unintelligent population.
But in another way we’re subtlety smart. “Oh, these products don’t
carry a warning label? I could get millions of dollars from them for making a
fuss over something any common idiot could comprehend. Might as well.”
In the end, it just goes to show how manipulative and sometimes idiotic the American
population can be. So what would you do? Make a fuss over nothing, sue and get
millions? Or be an ethically moral person and just turn the music down?
Whichever you decide, there’s one thing I know for sure: Only in America
would all this be possible. So God bless the USA.
Aneya Fernando is a freshman journalism major.
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