This was perhaps because I was not the one wearing the iPod earphones. Instead, it was the woman seated a good six feet away from me on a moving train. I could hear the sound even over the clacking of the train's wheels and the whooshing of its air-conditioning system. I wanted to grab her and shout, "How loud are you playing that thing?!"

Instead, I sat there feeling for the poor woman sitting right next to the music nut. I was also secretly thanking the heavens that I was not her.

I've read through many of PCMag.com's reviews of MP3 and other digital music players, and in each one, we talk about the bass and resonance of the sound achieved through the headphones that ship with the growing variety of players. They can all play loud, although our audio expert, Mike Kobrin, often notes distortion at certain upper reaches of the spectrum. I now realize that most people probably hear that distortion all the time—and apparently, they do not care. I do not recall this phenomenon during the heydays of the original Walkman or portable CD players. Maybe it's just that more people own MP3 players. Regardless, all of them seem to be blasting their music at "11."

This is not the first time I've unwillingly listened to someone else's music on the train, and I have to wonder what people are doing to their ears. Human physiology tells us that the ear can only sustain so much prolonged exposure to loud sounds. According to experts, ear damage can occur at a variety of decibel levels, depending on the length of exposure. Really loud sounds take a lot less time to inflict damage. For example, listening to a 95-dB lawnmower might take 4 hours to create tinnitus (ringing in the ears), while something at 110 dB will take just 30 minutes. Interestingly, many good MP3 players can produce that level of sound in headphones. I'm sure it had to be at least that loud for me to hear the music emanating from that woman's headset.

So if that woman is not partially deaf yet, she must certainly be on her way there. In either case, louder sounds now can only mean louder music later, as her ability to hear at normal levels erodes. In other words, maybe she plays the music at 11 because she really cannot hear it otherwise.

Such high-volume action is sure to make headphones obsolete in the long run. Let's just equip the next iPod with built-in stereo speakers on its sides and be done with it.

As I ruminated on this, I realized that the next song had cued up. This one, I could make out. It was Prince's "Let's Go Crazy." I heard the "Let's go" and then the extended guitar riff. I did not strain or lean in her direction to hear this. It was all as clear as day.

MP3-player owners are not the only seemingly deaf device owners. Mobile-phone users often have their ringtones set to the max, although I suspect they do this more to show off: "Look, I have Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy' as my ringtone. Ain't I cool?" But when they speak on their phones, not only do I hear them, I can hear their counterparts on the other end of the line too. What I'm about to share next is no joke. It really happened. I swear.

Scene: Men's bathroom
Players: Me in one stall. Other Guy in a second stall.

Other Guy's cell phone rings…

What should happen next is that Other Guy ignores it and answers when he's in a less awkward position. Not this Other Guy, though. He answers. Yes, I can hear his conversation, but that's not the worst part. This is: I can clearly make out what his friend on the other end of the line is saying—through the stall doors, without straining to hear. I do not want to hear. And, no, he was not using the speakerphone feature.

What is wrong with people?! Is good technology bringing out our worst selves? Certainly it's bringing out our hard-of-hearing selves and the part of us that seems completely unaware of those around us.

ave no answer to this problem, but only this plea: Turn down the volume. No one wants to hear what you're listening to or who you're talking to. We're simply not that interested.

By Lance Ulanoff, PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1840911,00.asp