Apple sued for 'faulty' iPods

A LOUISIANA man is suing Apple for flogging an iPod which could make him deaf in the future. John Kiel Patterson is not deaf yet, but thinks that his iPod may make him deaf in the future thanks to the fact that he plays it very loud.

According to Patterson's complaint, Apple makes the iPod so that it 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.

He said that the beautiful looking iPods should be adorned with huge warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss. In addition to the warnings, he wants compensation for unspecified damages and upgrades that will make iPods safer.

Apple says that its iPods do ship with a warning that "permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume". However it was forced to pull the iPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels.

Apple didn't do that in the United States, where people are considered responsible enough to turn the things down before their ears start bleeding.

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