Do you like listening to music loudly on your Ipod? Do you think you should at least be able to do so if you damn well please? Well, apparently Apple is going to be releasing a future version of the Ipod to keep you from doing that.

Apple is developing an automated volume control. They filed for another patent for the technology, designed to throttle back the volume depending on how long the user has been listening. If you’ve been listening for a while at loud volumes, the device will slowly decrease the volume. It will also calculate the "quiet time" (time between when it is turned off and when it is restarted), after which you will be allowed to crank the volume again.

According to the patent filing:

"Since the damaging effect on users’ hearing is both gradual and cumulative, even those users who are concerned about hearing loss may not behave in a manner that would limit or minimize such damaging effects."

This is, of course, true. Listening to an MP3 player really loud can cause hearing damage.

The question is: do we really want Apple playing mommy and forcing us to listen at lower volumes? And "quiet time"? Should I sit in a corner with a dunce cap, too?

It isn’t clear whether they’ll include an off switch. They better. Who the hell would want a device which forces this on you? Sounds too much like the Iphone to me.

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