iPod can both save and / or destroy your hearing

I wasn't going to post about this, but then the other conflicting story came in, and it just makes too much weird internet beauty to go overlooked. Both of these reports come via MacDailyNews, which reports that one fortunate Londoner in the recent bombings had his hearing saved by his iPod's earphones and that iPods can cause hearing damage.

I love the contradiction between these two stories, and the way that the iPod is a magical force of good in one and a magical force of evil in the other. In all reality, there is nothing iPod-specific about either story. Anything sitting in the Londoner's ears would have helped prevent hearing damage from the explosion: fingers, cotton, lots of wax, or any other music device's earphones / headphones. Likewise, listening to anything too loudly—whether in your car with the stereo cranked, at home with the stereo cranked, at a concert right next to the speakers, or while riding your bike with any sort of portable music device blasting the tunes over the wires into your ears—can cause hearing loss. So, neither story is actually newsworthy alone except for the iPod bit being flashy. In tandem, however, they amused me enough to warrant this post.