I went to college from 1988-1992, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Technology has changed a lot since then and so have student needs at college. I thought it would be fun to compare the needs (and wants) of a college student in 1989 and now in 2009.
1989:
3.5" floppy disks for saving your work from the computer lab
notebooks - lots of them
3 ring binders to organize notes and handouts
graphing calculator
Walkman
Tape recorder (record lectures)
Pens and Pencils
Highlighters
Post-it Notes
Stereo
TV and VCR
Video Game console
Telephone for room
Backpack
Books (leisure and reference)
Planner and Address book
2009:
Flash drive for backup
Laptop with CD/DVD drive and external speakers
Smartphone
Some notebooks and pens
Backpack
That's all.
Think about it! The Smartphone is their phone, Walkman, graphing calculator, note taker, planner and address book, books (eReader), and lecture recorder. The laptop is their note taking tool and planner, DVD player, TV, eReader, reference, stereo, video game console and more. The notebooks and pens are for classes where the laptop doesn't work well for notes (like science and engineering) - however, a tablet PC with handwriting notes software would work for this.
Packing for college is much easier now. No more boxes of books and notebooks, stereo and box of CD's, boxes of VHS tapes, VCR, TV...ugh. Now, one backpack could carry everything but their clothes.
I'm jealous! I remember lugging multiple notebooks and textbooks around and a planner. Lots of floppy disks for my data, and more. And forget trying to organize a party or how to meet up with other students. Cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, and more have made things so much different now.
What are your thoughts?