This Friday, our class embarked on a city trip, or “Flex Friday” as we call it, with a goal of attending Wired’s Next Fest in Millennium Park. After eating a delicious fast-food meal in the Thompson Center, we headed toward the pavilion really big tech-filled tent where all the attractions were being held. Upon walking inside, we were immediately bombarded with glorified rubber balls, a larger-than-life sized Dwayne Wade, and a lot of really shiny stuff. To the left, a Cell Phone Disco, something that picks up your cell’s waves and plays a light pattern to them. To the right, a game that reads your brain waves to manipulate a little ball. Feeling overwhelmed, my group headed over to the white leather clad furniture to relax (a.k.a. goof around). We had a great day.

Here are some pictures I took from the trip

“This is not your father’s college class. Hell, it isn’t even mine, and I’ve only been out of the system for five years. What I’m talking about is this new survey from Amherst College. Long story short is they’re armed to the teeth with tech, Apple products and web apps, and their classrooms are too.” - Gizmodo

So, according to an Amherst College survey, most of their students are “wired, Facebook-loving Mac addicts.” Here are some statistics.

• 432 members of the incoming class of 438 had Facebook accounts, and accounted for 3,225 posts.
• By the end of the first day of class, 370 students had registered 443 devices.
• Those devices? Probably laptops, as only 14 freshmen lugged desktop computers to school this year.
• As for the Apple effect, the probability of a student having an iPhone/iTouch in the class of 2012 is approximately 1 in 2.
• Total landline phones in service? Five.

Pretty crazy, huh?