Link: ChannelCincinnati.com - Technology - iPod Generation Hearing Sounds Of Silence Sooner.
"I guess I'm listening to it like eight or nine-tenths of the way up, which probably isn't great, but that's what I like to do," band member Dan Garmon said.
Not great? This reminds of of a kid in my high school. He had a garage band, he always wore T-shirts from Heavy Metal bands, short purple hair and everybody knew he played his music loud. Senior year he came to school with hearing aids behind each ear. He had lost almost all his hearing.
He was 17 and almost completely deaf.
My dad worked at JFK airport, a very noisy place, for 30 years and he has hearing problems that he finally admitted to himself and got some hearing aids which have made a difference in improving his life.
I rarely turn up my iPod past the first 2-3 clicks, usually only while mowing the lawn and even then it is only about three-quarters of the way up, using noise-canceling headphones. I am also listening to audiobooks and the like which seem to be a bit quieter then music.
My hearing is important to me so I try to keep my iPod set on the low side rather then the high side. I want to be able to hear the voices of my children and grand-children. The sound of the wind in the trees and the babbling of the brook.
I once was working in a lab that had an environmental chamber running for weeks. The noise was so bad that after the first day I ran to the sporting goods store to get hearing protection. Those little foam inserts cut the noise by a whole lot. I also found they make flying a lot easier. After listening to the drone of the engines for hours, I would be really tired and often had a headache, with the hearing protection I still felt fresh and no headaches.
Not to say that I always play my tunes low and quiet. After a rather depressing meeting I cranked up Ride of the Valkyries. That is a great song to break up a depression.
You don't want to end up like that guy who watched a solar eclipse by just looking up and was surprised when he went blind and now is taken around the country giving speeches to students about not looking directly at the sun.
Our bodies are temples and it is very bad to abuse your body, especially with something you can control like the volume of your iPod. If you are listening in a noisy environment, get some noise-canceling headphones they will help save your hearing.
"Not great? This reminds of of a kid in my high school. He had a garage band, he always wore T-shirts from Heavy Metal bands, short purple hair and everybody knew he played his music loud. Senior year he came to school with hearing aids behind each ear. He had lost almost all his hearing."
I don't have purple hair, and I'm nowhere near deaf yet, even five years after you posted this. HAH!
Posted by: Dangarmon | Saturday, 14 August 2010 at 08:11 PM