Does Apple Want to Automatically Turn Down the Volume on Your iPod?
Just before the Christmas holiday the Telegraph.co.uk published an article titled: Apple to turn down the volume on iPod. The article caught my eye and had a “Big Brother” flavor to it. I wondered, “Is Apple’s patent application one of those situations where big business is attempting to protect me from myself?”
Patent Filing and Publication Dates Provide a Clue
I’m not a patent expert but I think what we have here is a case of someone writing an eye catching article based on a patent application coupled with some very big assumptions.
The patent outlines a technology that would automatically turn down the volume of an iPod if it was on full volume for too long. The patent was filed in 2005 and published in the summer of 2007 (you can find the European patent here and the U.S. version here). During that time Apple released a few new versions of the iPod and none of them have this patent pending auto turn down technology. Furthermore, I doubt any future versions will ever use this technology because the latest iPods offer a self regulating maximum volume limit technology instead of the automatic turn down approach.
Current iPods allow the user (or user’s parent) to apply maximum volume limit
My original second generation iPod didn’t have any volume limit setting, but my new 80 GB iPod Classic does. The setting doesn’t auto turn down the volume. Instead, however, the user can decide to set a maximum volume and make a conscience decision to protect their ears. The parent of an iPod user can also exercise a little parental authority by setting a maximum volume on their child’s iPod and enforce that setting by applying a 4 digit password.
Apple not interested in being Big Brother
I don’t believe Apple wants to be “Big Brother.” This patent publication is nothing more than a defensive move. If the day ever comes that Apple loses a lawsuit making them responsible for hearing lose, then Apple might be forced into the “Big Brother” role. Until that day comes, Apple will leave volume control where it belongs — in the hands of the user.
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Filed under: Tech Commentary
[...] scearstower wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Just before the Christmas holiday the Telegraph.co.uk published an article titled: Apple to turn down the volume on iPod. The article caught my eye and had a “Big Brother” flavor to it. I wondered, “Is Apple’s patent application one of those situations where big business is attempting to protect me from myself?” Patent Filing and Publication Dates Provide a Clue I’m not a patent expert but I think what we have here is a case of someone writing an eye catching article based on a patent applicat [...]