By Peter Celauro
A&E Editor
When Harvard University opened its doors in 1636 and became America’s first institution of higher learning, it was deeply rooted in the practices and times of the 17th century. Untroubled by today’s technology and the hurrying and worrying it spawned, students of yore enjoyed the calming peace and quiet of nature, and their lives were centered on their studies and each other. With their arms crossed behind their heads and their eyes closed, the first college students snoozed the day away, reveling in the fact that there just wasn’t much to do.
Thankfully, you and your classmates are spared from the boredom they suffered; you can buy cool stuff!
The past 360 years or so have seen huge advancements in every facet of technology, from the phonograph to the camcorder to the portable DVD player. And as the tech-savvy target demographic, today’s college students are at the receiving end of it all. Every bit of college life has been enhanced, from the food students eat to the ways they communicate to the things they do for fun.
Take, for instance, the college chef. Tired of the same chicken tenders, pizza and Jack in the Box, he lives in the dorm and longs for the tasty delicacies he enjoyed back home, prepared fresh the way momma made them.
Enter Coleman’s RoadTrip grill. With 20,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of available energy from a 16.4 ounces propane cylinder, Coleman’s latest and greatest grill offers enough power to roast anything from steaks to a whole turkey, even in windy, frigid weather. Like a regular grill, it features a drip-through, open-flame cooking style.
Unlike any other grill, however, its “Mix & Match” surfaces means you can use it as a grill, griddle or stove — meaning Joe Chef can make hamburgers, eggs over easy or mac and cheese, all in the comfort of Rho parking lot. All this high-tech grilling capability is no more than a double-click and $179 away.
No barbecue is complete without ice-cold lemonade, of course, and no lemonade can be kept ice-cold without ice cubes. Anyone who’s sipped lemonade on a hot afternoon, however, knows that normal ice turns even the best lemonade into lemony water in a matter of hours.
Enter Lite Cubes. These plastic, ice-shaped cubes can be frozen and substituted for regular ice in any drink that doesn’t go into a blender. But the true fun starts when the sun sets. Hit a Lite Cube firmly on a hard surface to activate the tiny lights inside, and your drink lights up brighter than Mariah Carey’s teeth.
Lite Cubes range from $3.25 to $3.99 per cube, depending on the color, and can be ordered at epartyunlimited.com.
The college experience is nothing without a healthy dose of recreation, and no sport is more popular with 18-to 25-year olds than Frisbee. Sadly, the Frisbee was never popular at Pepperdine’s nighttime beach parties — nobody could see it!
Enter the Fireflyer Frisbee. Thanks to “Supercharged Aerodynamic Light Strips,” this disc glows in the dark, and it flies just as well as any other standard 175 gram disc. It can be ordered at grabthelight.com for $18.99.
Perhaps the only thing more popular with college students than Frisbee is portable music. And perhaps the only company advanced enough to keep up with the pace of the industry is Apple. With the iPod, their new digital music player, Apple broke the mold and created the standard to which all other music devices are trying to catch up. The iPod comes in 10, 15, 20 and 40 gigabyte models, meaning now listeners can hold up to 10,000 songs in a device that’s lighter than three CDs and fits in the palm of your hand.
The iPod has been making history in the technology world since its release. But the wonder of Apple’s music player is small compared to the praise garnered by the Segway HT, the world’s first self-balancing personal transportation device. The Segway is built around tilt sensors, gyroscopes and motors, which keep the rider standing upright and moving in the direction he wants to go. It works somewhat like a motorized wheelchair, looks somewhat like a horseless chariot, and costs about $4,950 (meaning you could drop a class today, cash your check tomorrow and have your Segway by the weekend!).
So next time you’re overwhelmed with today’s hustle and bustle and wish you’d been born in quieter times, take a moment to count your blessings. While Harvard’s 1636 class got their kicks from afternoon strolls, horse-drawn carriage rides and spin the bottle, you’re part of a new age in college entertainment. With these gadgets at your fingertips, you may never have to play the bored game again.
September 11, 2003