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If you have tried data on Cingular without an unlimited plan, you know how un-free this could be. Personally, this is what I've stacked up to solve this problem.

Cingular 2125 Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone.
$20/month for unlimited data.
Orb at home on my media machine.
Shure i2c-t headset for listening to audio and taking calls.

Then you just stream the data to yourself. Sure, it's harder to actually buy a track, but I only have 256MB of memory on my phone. I'm not going to fill that up with downloaded music.

They should include intra-aureal earphones with this, such as the these. I would think the adaptive optices to correct for vision might be a bit more cumbersome, but might be possible. My regular glasses are 16g, so 40g is indeed on the heavy side, but not outside the realm of usability.

You won't find me wearing them in public to pass the time though...they're still quite ugly. Then again, so are those huge bluetooth headsets that seem to be growing out of the ear of every real estate agent I know, but they wear them anyway.

LOL. Well, in all seriousness, if one is concerned about this, you could spend a couple bucks more and get a higher-quality one. I know Shure sells the PA235. They include that as part of the E5C bundle, which is their top-tier canalphone, so I can only assume it's of decent quality. :)

I also have a Palm TX and I also hate the hiss noise that comes out of it.

But it seems to have a easy fix. For some stupid reason the Palm TX expects a high impedance earphone. With a high impendance earphone the hiss goes always and the sound quality is good.

If you want to use a low impedance earbud, buy one with a sound volume (like sennheiser mx500) or buy a volume control adpater like this:

http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/eseries_access ories.html#ATTEN

You may also try to add some resistors in the midle...

I wear the rubbery-ended shure (i think) earbuds

... So what are these earbuds you're talking about? Are they even sold by Apple? Made by Apple? They don't seem to be the default option ...

Oh, I dunno, maybe he's talking about the headphones made by shure?

n the end, the best way to prevent hearing damage is probably "in-ear phones" or "canalphones". See etymotic, shure, sony, sharp. They are just earphones that go deep inside the earcanal and use a material (usually silicone or foam) to make a seal with the earcanal to prevent any external noise from "leaking" in. Thus, you dont have to turn up the volume to allow you to hear your music over cars, computer fans, tvs, etc... Thus, your music is at a lower volume and your hearing is happier

Exactly.
I've had an ipod for about a year now, and used to keep the volume between 80%-100% when I was out and about, because that level was requred to drouwn out the surrounding sound with the stock earbuds.
I bought a set of Shure E2C's about two months ago, and find myself listening in the 20%-40% range, and having to take the earbud out for things like talking to clerks at stores more often. I use the foam inserts with mine, and they work great.

Actually, I've got an appointment with an audiologist tomorrow to get my hearing checked. It'll be interesting to hear what she says.

Why would any different style of speaker be any more or less likely to cause hearing damage vs another? Surely the only thing that really matters is the volume at which the sound hits your eardrum.

Earbuds may be closer to the eardrum, but the sound that comes out of them is far less loud than that of a speaker (for comparison, plug your earbuds in and listen to them from the same distance that you'd listen to speakers from. clearly they're FAR more quiet). Therefore they make up for the closer distance to your eardrum by being less noisy. As a result, you should be just as likely to get hearing damage from speakers as from earbuds, assuming you listen to both at the same perceived volume.

All that the article seems to indicate is "In a study published last year in the journal Ear and Hearing, researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at a variety of headphones and found that, on average, the smaller they were, the higher their output levels at any given volume-control setting.". So basically smaller earphones are more sensitive. Duh? Basically all they're saying is that you dont have to turn the volume knob up as high for small buds vs big headphones.

At any given volume, earbuds aren't any more likely to cause hearing damage than headphones or speakers.. it's just that it seems people are too dumb to realise that they have to turn the volume knob down when they change to different brands/styles of headphones.

The research doesn't show that earbuds cause hearing damage, it shows that excessive listening to music at excessive volumes causes hearing damage. It just so happens that portable music players gives the option for many people to listen to music for large amounts of time, and that most portable music players come with earbud style headphones. This is not causation.

In the end, the best way to prevent hearing damage is probably "in-ear phones" or "canalphones". See etymotic, shure, sony, sharp. They are just earphones that go deep inside the earcanal and use a material (usually silicone or foam) to make a seal with the earcanal to prevent any external noise from "leaking" in. Thus, you dont have to turn up the volume to allow you to hear your music over cars, computer fans, tvs, etc... Thus, your music is at a lower volume and your hearing is happier

For proof, btw, I personally got hearing damage when i moved away from canalphones and instead bought some full-sized headphones. They were both very bright in sound (lots of shharp trebble) and open (lots of sound leaking in, meaning i turned it up more). That combo did more damage than earphones ever have

http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/eseries_e5c.ht ml - Its all in the name of good health, right?

But seriously, I had mine for about 6 months now and I have to say the isolation is incredible. Baby screaming at the DVLA? no problem. Construction and train noises are also easily blocked out. The London Underground is a good test because its *very* loud - you cant hold a conversation screaming at the top of your lungs there. Here the isolation isnt enough, but all you hear is a faint windy sort of noise, which is fine.