Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
Not really. The charger simply shorted the 220v mains to the ground side of the USB connector. This made the case of the iPod and also the headsets live.
The first part is easy to understand, but I'm surprised that any exterior part of the phone or headset would be metal that's electrically connected to the USB power pins (either ground or live). I always have my phone in a protective rubber case anyway but safe electrical design would call for the metal parts of the case to be insulated from electrical power.