Tech Shout!

Lead guitarist of legendary rock band The Who, Pete Townshend has seconded recent astounding claims that iPod headphones can permanently damage your hearing, the BBC notes.

As per his website, the sexagenarian guitarist declares: “I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf,” before admitting: “My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead.”

Though Townshend feels, “Studio headphones caused my hearing problems, rather than playing loudly on stage.”

Accordingly, the poor chap’s ears now ring continuously and he warns: “Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired.”

However, as a quick caution, Townshend adds: “If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you may be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage.”

He does, though, finally adds, “The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound.”