Pimp my room

What's the difference between today's college students and college students 30 years ago?\nIn the '70s, the typical dorm room included all the staples: typewriters, turntables that played only one album at a time and posters with "hang in there" kitties on them. \nFast forward to the 21st century. Replace typewriters with laptops that can save, send and retrieve semesters' worth of reports and visual presentations, record players with handheld MP3 players that can hold enough songs to last a DJ a lifetime and the dated posters with a digital picture frame that can store an entire album and turn it into a slideshow, all before your very eyes.\nThe college students of yesteryear may have gone through school without such high tech luxuries, but it would probably be a different story for today's batch of gadget ga-ga young adults.\n"With stuff like computers and the Internet, we plug our lives away in them and rely on them," says junior Eric Komenda. "Besides, without today's technology, I'd be a lot more bored."\nAnd with many electronics stores reserving floor space in their shops for "back to college" sales fixtures, it's no wonder why today's college students have become so dependent on the convenience of higher end electronics.\nBed Bath & Beyond, for example, has a wide selection of items for college students in its back-to-school sale—including a deluxe coffee maker. This is just one of many gadgets that many insist is a must-have for college students.\n"Nowadays, you should be able to some basic gadgets in your room that will allow you to brew up fresh coffee every morning. Don't settle for cafeteria coffee while living at school," says About.com columnist Sean Paajanen. "You can ask your friends to start calling you 'The Barista.'"\nThis sentiment implying that every college student "should" have gadgets like coffee brewers in their room make it easy to see why students have become so gadget-centric. But what separates today's coffee brewers from the brewers found in dorm rooms 30 years ago?\nThe Flavia Fusion Drink Station from The Sharper Image can hold up to 18 different packets ready to make coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, teas, chais and hot chocolate at the push of a button. You also don't need to clean the brewer out between drinks; no remnants are leaked out to taint your latte with that hint of bitter black coffee. And you can do it all without filters or strainers, all for a mere 100 bucks.\n"Knowing your coffee equipment options can help you make the most of a limiting situation, without having to give up your coffee," Paajanen says.\nStudents certainly know their options when it comes to gadgets in general. If they have the money and the product is in ready availability, they are going to opt for the plasma screen over a cheap and old model with dials and bunny years any day.\nAnd few products offer more options than the illustrious MP3 player. These portable wonders have essentially replaced Walkmans and portable CD players, and college students are taking full advantage of the market's selection of supplementary MP3 accessories to satiate their hunger for all things digital music.\nAccording to Fox News, the New Jersey-based research group Student Monitor conducted a survey in summer 2006 and discovered most college students like iPods more than beer. Students were asked to classify what products they believe to be hip, or "in." Nearly three-fourths of the students surveyed listed iPods as more hip than activities such as text messaging and drinking on the weekends. Beer tied with Facebook in the hipness rankings.\n"For those who believe there's an excessive amount of drinking on campus, now there's something else that's common on campuses," says Eric Weil, a managing partner at Student Monitor.\nIf that isn't a sign of the times, who knows what is?\nThe iPod-crazed populous can find good use in electronics such as the "iHome," an all-in-one AM/FM radio, illuminating clock radio and iPod speaker system. It runs around $90 and can be found at electronics dealers across the country, such as Circuit City.\nBose also makes quality MP3 player speaker systems that college students could consider. For $300, students can enjoy crystal-clear sound with Bose's Sound Dock Digital Music System, which can be found at The Sharper Image. It comes complete with "charge-while-you-play" capability for your iPod to prevent battery death midway through your favorite playlist. It also comes with a remote so you can change songs from clear across the room.\nAnother change from the '70s and '80s is the advancement in video games. Gone are the days of two-player Pong: now video games can allow you to face off against millions across the world. High-end new products like the handheld Nintendo DS Lite allow you to play a variety of games anywhere.\n"One of my favorite gadgets is my DS Lite. It has stolen many days away from me—I like it because I can use it to play in class," laughs sophomore Eric Komenda. "Does that sound really bad?"\nThe Nintendo DS Lite is Nintendo's latest in its handheld line with WiFi capability, which allows you to race against pro Mario Karters—internationally. The Lite goes for $129.99 at Circuit City with games ranging in price from $15 to $40.\nFrom music to video games, these gadgets only make up the tip of the technology iceberg. If college dorms and apartments have changed this much in just a few decades, how will they be decked out in another 30 years? The possibilities are endless. With this in mind, there will probably be few surprises.\nUnless gadgets become more popular than beer again.