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Abstract
This article examines the effects noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and music-induced hearing loss (MIHL) may have on U.S. culture, with special attention given to such hearing loss that is associated with Personal Media Players (PMPs). With the advent of PMPs such as the iPod, hearing loss at a young age threatens to grow to alarmingly high proportions. The scale of total hearing loss in the United States is large enough to surprise most people; exceeding 10% of the population. The hearing loss landscape in U.S. culture today is very different from that of our grandparents'. Many new technologies such as PMPs have flooded our acoustical environment beyond any level previously imagined. What this article argues is that there is growing concern over, and statistical evidence of, both NIHL and MIHL due in some part to PMPs. The analysis further reveals ever-stronger correlations between the impact that hearing loss has on U.S. society regarding communication.