While many younger folks may not have experienced it firsthand, there was an undeniable magic surrounding the ’80s. One of the defining features was the explosion of new forms of entertainment, and the accentuating hallmark of music from that period was the portable boom box.
While gargantuan by today’s standards, the miniaturization of household stereo systems was widely embraced by the youth of the time, along with the burgeoning hip-hop scene. All of a sudden there was a new culture on the streets that promoted individualistic behavior and anti “establishment” ways of thinking that, up until that point, can only have been compared to the previous punk rock movement.
While there has recently been a mild resurgence in’80s culture, West Chester entrepreneurs Zachary Pierce, Brian Zamrowski, Michael Israel and Mathews Chacko are seeking to recapture some of the magic that made that decade special by focusing on what really set those years apart: the culture of rebelliousness and the way we listened to the music.
Enter the BumpOut, a high-speed, low-drag Bluetooth speaker designed to attach and pair with virtually every phone on the market to deliver. Compared to similar speakers on the market, the BumpOut boasts some very serious advantages that ought to set it apart from the rest of the pack.
For starters, the quality of the sound generated by the venerable boom box was painstakingly recreated through a simple yet innovative design feature in the portable speaker: a motorized sound chamber that “bumps out” when activated, expanding the unit and increasing the overall sound quality exponentially.
Anybody who has even the slightest knowledge of the workings of larger speakers knows that the larger the “box,” the more the sound resonates. This effectively improves the low-end frequencies responsible for the overall sound quality as well as the bass. I had the opportunity to try it out; every sound was crisp and every subtle nuance was clear.
While portability in Bluetooth speakers isn’t necessarily an issue, the creators of BumpOut have also made sure that functionality is a key component of their inventive design. Using a specially designed “coin” made of a patented, reposition-able adhesive, the speaker can be attached to just about anything… and I do mean anything.
The actual size of the speaker is also a major selling point. I won’t lie; when I first started researching the BumpOut speaker, I was skeptical about whether or not it would really be as portable as it was said to be, what with the ever increasing size of cell phones in modern culture. More often than not, “portable” speakers have a tendency to dwarf my trusty phone, but once attached, the BumpOut only doubled the width of device to a little over a half an inch thick, and it matched up almost seamlessly in the length and width departments.
I’d like to take a moment to say something about the actual mechanics of the speaker itself. By pressing a single button on the side of the unit, the chamber bumps out about a half an inch, and the volume can be remotely controlled through the phone. It might seem like a small thing to get excited about, but it really did make the whole thing all the more impressive, especially when coupled with the jump in sound quality.
Aesthetically speaking, the BumpOut embodies the concept of minimalism.
The rugged, rubberized outer shell is initially going to come in either matte black or white, and the chamber will be a matching chrome finish. For guys like me who enjoy a more subtle piece of hardware, that’s perfect, but for those of you who like a bit more flare when it comes to your technological accoutrement, there are plans to have a variety of different replacement skins made to fit your palate.
One of the most impressive things about the BumpOut is going to be the price point. The BumpOut team is looking to buck industry trends by marketing their speaker somewhere in the range of $80, and considering the fact that quality of the speaker rivals that of its more expensive competitors (such as my Bose Soundlink), that price is an indubitable steal.
The thing about the BumpOut, and the team behind it, is that they’re doing so much more than creating a new product; they’re attempting to revitalize the aforementioned culture of individuality and rebelliousness of the ’80s and early ’90s. They’re looking to foster the innate talents that the younger generations have early on, as opposed to openhandedly helping them into the industrial grinder that is the U.S. work force.
That’s why they created BumpOut University.
The first BumpOut-U event was held at Upper Darby High School and initially consisted of a little over 100 high school kids. I say initially because by the time it was all over, the number of kids in attendance had apparently doubled in size. The whole purpose was to couple the kids with entrepreneurs in the area and educate them on how to reach their individual goals, using the talents they’d already been fostering for years.
This was more than a series of lectures; this was a multimodal “jam session” of ideas, complete with a DJ and an after party. The message is simple: You can be a success, and you can do it while you do what you love to do. There’s no need to conform.
There are some stipulations for attendance, though. Since BumpOut is looking to help kids who are interested in improving themselves and chasing their dreams, the group has decided to only take on individuals who help their community out in some way, shape or form. The way Pierce and Zamrowski look at it, this is a reinvestment in the community, so they’re looking for a specific kind of person who’s willing to really make an effort at producing a return, i.e. grooming a generation of entrepreneurs who’d rival guys like Mark Zuckerburg.
So when can we expect to see the BumpOut on the shelves? The model I got to fiddle around with is just the initial prototype, and although I thought it sounded absolutely amazing, both Pierce and Zamrowski are looking to tighten the tolerances on the unit so as to produce an amazingly superior experience for buyers.
With that being said, the expected launch date for the first generation of BumpOut speakers should be out early this summer.
Until then, the guys at BumpOut are planning on hosting multiple BumpOut University events, the next being on April 25 at Radnor Middle School in Wayne, Pa.
Unlike the first event, however, this event has room for up to 600 kids, so if you or someone you know is interested, you can inquire about attending at www.bumpout.com or you can visit their Facebook at www.facebook.com/BumpOut.
Ryan Wasser is a fifth-year student majoring in English writings track. He can be reached at RW851045@wcupa.edu.