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Pacemaker study leads to rash of "Granny's iPod" jokes

michael rose
Editor
Updated ·2 min read

Many high school students are happy to get science projects done quietly, without attracting the attention of, say, the Associated Press. Not Jay Thaker. His research shows that an iPod held 2 inches from the chest can disrupt pacemaker function in some patients, which has caused a torrent of media furor over this previously unstudied and unquantified risk.

Here at TUAW we don't give medical advice [You got that right. -Ed.] and we don't like to point out when big media stories about Apple products are silly, disproportionate or plain goofy... well, actually we do like to point that out. With all due respect to those who might be directly affected by this discovery, some points to consider:

  1. The study only examined iPods, no other portable media players (HD or flash-based) and so far I haven't found anything that says exactly what type of iPod was used. Is it the Shuffle that's causing skipped beats? What happens if I use a Sandisk player or a Zune? We need a control group... what about a vintage Sony Walkman?

  2. This isn't the first time we've been told portable electronic devices and pacemakers don't mix. Ten years ago, the first reports of cellphone interference came out. Users were (prudently) told to keep phones at least 6 inches from their chests, and the fuss blew over.

  3. One of the study's noted concerns was that the presence of an iPod could cause a physician to misread pacemaker telemetry during an exam. I'm not an expert, but are there any doctors that are in the habit of letting patients listen to their iPods during physical exams? Most of the time, one of you is naked, and hopefully it's not the doctor.

  4. As some of the study authors have noted, there's a reason this hasn't been a big issue: the overlap of "iPod owners" and "pacemaker patients" has not been a substantial population.

All kidding aside, I look forward to seeing this study expanded to other portable electronic devices; the safety of all of them (not just the iPod) for pacemaker or other medical appliance users is worth checking.

It's clear who the real losers are in this situation: the folks who, only a few days ago, introduced a new portable music player aimed at the DJ market: the Pacemaker. Ooch, that's gonna leave a mark.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.