New iPod Volume Limit Setting
[Note: I've just discovered that the following update applies only to the iPod nano and the 5th generation series of 'pods. I don't know why the update was designed to work with all iPods; perhaps it's a firmware issue...]
If you own an iPod you should have received notice from Apple of a free software update that allows you to set a maximum volume for the mp3 player. Even better, it allows a parental control type of setting that permits you to set the maximum volume for your child's 'pod, complete with a password to prevent youthful overrides. Here's Apple's documentation of these new features, and here's the download page for the software update.
Given the potential for damaging young ears via the combination of loud music and earbuds, this volume setting is welcome news...sort of like a speed governor on a car. It should also make it more likely that an iPod-wearing child will have to stretch his or her acting abilities to claim that he or she didn't hear you when you issued your latest order to take out the trash.
Brian, this is simply another example of how a litigious society has forced businesses into nanny-mode as self-preservation. Apple is already facing one lawsuit from a man who claims the iPod caused him to lose his hearing. You and I and everyone with any common sense will correctly label this as preposterous, ridiculous and downright stupid, but the fact remains that Apple will spend boatloads of shareholders' money either defending or settling. I'm sure Apple has better things for its developers to do than write these kinds of patches, but again, such are the inanely perilous times in which we live.
France actually has a law on the books limiting the decibel level of mp3 players. Of course, we know what a bastion of personal liberty France is...
Regarding the technical issue of how this works, while I don't know the exact details, it appears that the software imposes a limit on the decibel level that flows to the headphones. Thus, it won't matter how loud the music was ripped; if it exceeds, say, 100db, it will be cut back to the mandated level.
Posted by: Eric at March 30, 2006 06:43 AM...a litigious society has forced businesses into nanny-mode as self-preservation.
Well-put. That's at the root of what bothers me about this.
Steven DenBeste had a dream about this stuff a while back.
Posted by: Brian at March 30, 2006 08:13 AMmp3 player
My iPod insists on AACs.
IJS, but I worry, too. Has anyone come out with an AAC convertor? I should check, since I've succumbed to the ipod borg.
Posted by: Scott Chaffin at March 30, 2006 12:20 PMMy iPod insists on AACs.
You're kidding, right?
Well, anyway...you can use iTunes to convert from AAC to MP3, although I'm not sure why you would want to. I even did a post about the process.
Oh, wait. You're not kidding? You're trying to convert your MP3s to AAC so you put them on your iPod?
Yeah. You had me going there for a minute.
You are kidding, right?
Posted by: Eric at March 30, 2006 12:40 PMElefino. I read that somewhere during my ipoddization. I thought itunes did all that stuff as a matter of course. I just pointed it at my files and clicked Yea, Verily, Be Master of They.
In a way, it almost seems sacreligous to call the ipod an mp3 player, anyway. I actually have pix of the grandboy on mine for showing off at the p0ker room. I 'r' hep, cat.
Posted by: Scott Chaffin at March 30, 2006 03:21 PMGuess I gotta getta Ipod so I can be hep, cat, too.
Posted by: Janie at March 30, 2006 06:20 PMAbout the publisher
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I can see your point - especially with the kids - but this just seems a silly thing to me. Every iPod ever shipped comes with a volume control.
And how does the volume level at which the sound is recorded come into play with this limiter? I suspect that - like the existing volume control - it doesn't. If a child just rips their music to the iPod at a higher sound level, do they essentially defeat this limiter?
What's next? Will stereo manufacturers start looking negligent if they don't supply a physical limiter to control how far you can turn the volume knob?
Posted by: Brian at March 30, 2006 05:48 AM