OAKLEY’s new THUMP digital audio eyewear or in other words, sunglasses with an in-built mp3 [and other audio format] player and earphones are probably the biggest step ever made in personal music apparatuses in history but it’s such a simple idea! “We have the technology,” said whoever it was in 6 million dollar man. And WHY NOT, we do! Compressed music audio files have been around for a long time with ipods and other mp3 personal players being snapped up by the truck load and peer to peer sharing bringing mp3 to just about every household with a computer and an internet connection. Yes, the technology was there but it was Oakley that put this all together into a very functional and dare I say it, Cool way of listening to the latest sounds while shading your eyes from a hostile sun.
I was test driving a pair of THUMP 128 MB’s [256MB also available] over the last couple of weeks and besides suddenly being the most popular person around with people stopping me wherever I went wanting to try these spaced-out technological marvels, I had the chance to cruise around town on my motorbike with some great sounds blasting in my ears – it was like having my own personal lifestyle soundtrack, adding a new dimension to normal everyday life.

As OAKLEY says, it’s a self-contained package with the entire mechanism packed into the side frames of the glasses. THUMPS are light weight and there are no cables or interference. You can do anything you want; jump, dance, jog, breakdance on ya head, anything and they don’t get in the way. Downloading music and charging the battery is simple too; just connect thru your USB on the computer and away you go. And did I forget to say they are also packed with the latest eye wear technology with razor sharp clarity and 100% UV protection supplied by OAKLEY’s years of experience? Well, I did now and also the lenses and earphones flip up so you can quickly adjust to walking indoors or answer your handphone with ease!
Maybe the novelty will wear off, but all in all, I get the feeling that I’m going to be downloading and listening to a lot more new music in the future, which always has to be a good thing. Thanks to Oakley and the THUMP, maybe you will too.

THUMP: 256 MB = Rp.5.009.000
THUMP: 128 MB = Rp.3.899.000
THUMP: 256 MB Red Camo Polarized Rp.5.339.000

OAKLEY THUMPS are available from these stores in Bali: Extreme Toys, The Station, Surfers Paradise and DFS. Jakarta: Planet Surf, Point Break, City Surf and Optic Seis.