Since then, he's sold more than 4,000 of them and earned the equivalent of a half-million dollars, he says. To his dismay, people around the world have converted the sound into a ring-tone without his permission - including youngsters who withstand the irritating sound long enough to record it on their cell phones or post it online. Others, he says, are abusing the Mosquito, setting up "kid-free zones" by running the device 24 hours a day.
Stapleton says that at 85 dB, the sound is equivalent to heavy traffic and would only do permanent ear damage if someone were exposed to it for eight continuous hours. The level is also the U.S. federal noise standard to which workers can be exposed without wearing protective gear.
"One-time exposure to 85 dB intensity level will not necessarily cause hearing loss," said Colleen E. Ryan-Bane, an audiologist at Johns Hopkins. "However, prolonged, consistent exposure to 85 dB and above will cause hearing loss."
UK-based human rights groups have complained that the device discriminates against young people. Last month, several launched a campaign called "Buzz Off," demanding that merchants shut off the more than 3,500 Mosquitos across the country. Some have labeled Stapleton "anti-kids" for creating the device.
"I am not anti-kids," Stapleton said. "I have five of my own."
That reaction may grow in the United States if the device catches on.
"We would have to look closely at this new technology, but the idea of it may raise questions about the right to assembly and age discrimination," said Meredith Curtis, public outreach director of the ACLU of Maryland.
For now, Guy Worthingon, vice president of surveillance at RMS Omega Technologies, said that the device has drawn rave response with each demonstration. The 44-year-old executive has never heard the machine, though. To demonstrate its impact, he and a colleague switched it on in their conference room.
Within seconds, salesman Justin Wild bolted in, wincing and motioning for the Mosquito to be shut off.
He's 22.
joseph.burris@baltsun.com
The young and not-so-young
What is that noise?
I'm used to crazy happenings in a crowded newsroom as a 25-year-old copyeditor at The Sun, but I was not prepared for what began as an easily ignored conversation among my co-workers turning into a head-turning moment of "What is that NOISE?"
My question was greeted with a bemused "Oh, you can hear that?"
