Gadget: Griffin Unveils MyPhones With 85db Limit
12:35 pm, September 18th, 2009, Ed Sutherland
If you are a parent you know the drill for the iPod Generation: turn that down before you lose your hearing, inserting the required cautionary tales of sitting too close to the speakers at a Stones concert. The usual reaction: “What did you say?” (lifting one headphone cups.) Well, Griffin Technology was speaking to the choir when it introduced MyPhones, their new volume-limiting headphones for children.
Key to MyPhones is the 85db limit, the maximum the $39.99 headphones permit. The 85db number is the threshold for safe listening; above 85db and your hearing will be damaged, according to the Academy of Pediatrics and other safety experts. “Parents can rest easy, knowing that their kids’ hearing is not compromised,” Griffin Technology founder and CEO Paul Griffin announced.
Along with over-the-ear rather than in-the-ear design, the new headphones also offer soft rubber ear cushions and an adjustable band. But the addition that may be most embraced is the heavy-duty cable for what Griffin calls “a traditionally weak link in headphone design for kids.” I prefer to call it the saving parents big bucks option. Headphone cords are not simply conduits for wiring, but a hanger, a pulley, and a dangler for the attached device.
MyPhones also speaks the creative side of kids. Headphone owners can replace the inserts with designs created by other children by going to the www.myphoneskids.com site.
[Via Griffin]
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News, iPod Accessories | Comment on this article
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This is a pointless non product. All iPods have a volume limiting feature built in. You can even lock it with a password.
Vince, on September 18th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
When I worked for THX, 85db was the reference level in the home theater set-ups when we were QCing DVD authoring. That’s still friggin loud, and I don’t know that it’s wise to go even that high in a pair of headphones. I’d regularly fatigue my ears depending on the material…
ChuckEye, on September 18th, 2009 at 11:46 pm