The scoop on Thump, Oakley's MP3 sunglasses
By Peter Rojas 
posted Jul 12th 2004 4:26PM
posted Jul 12th 2004 4:26PM
Those ugly sunglasses with the built-in MP3
player we posted about this morning? They're for real, and you won't have to be Lance Armstrong to get a pair.
Oakley is going to sell "Thump", as they're calling the sunglasses, to the non-Tour-de-France-winning general public
beginning in December. Thump (which we're already finding annoying to write) will come in 128MB and 256MB versions,
have a battery life of six hours, support for both MP3 and WMA audio files, and sport volume and track controls on the
eyestem.
[Thanks, Larry]
$500 for 256 megs!? For that price it'd better have a heads-up track info display, gps and lap-timer.
have you ever seen prices on oakley's normally? they're only adding about $100 or so to the price. granted, I'm not saying that they're cheap or anything, merely that you pay for that name, and you pay dearly. =D
Oakley's can get pretty expensive in and of themselves. These are Oakley's WITH an MP3 player so it's understandable. For outdoor athletes (bikers, runners etc..)who lik their music it sounds like an awesome product.
Is buying such an expensive player worthwhile? Why not buy a good pair of sunglasses and keep your flash player on your waist(or behind)?
You can get far better mp3players that are really compact and provide excellent sound.
Yes, this oakley makes sense to lance who needs all the weight and drag reduction he can get but for non-tdf bikers- its overkill.
This seem to be a great product, but will it work for all athletes that would use it. Can it endure sweat, rain, etc.
u like it?yes...got the money? yes...then buy them.....don`t got the money? shut up and enjoy the ride
in warms up before the Team Time Trial, Lance arrived wearing a set of white earplugs plugged into a white mp3 player that featured a scroll wheel as Lance spun it around a few times, then appararently press the middle button and was ready to get on his bike ... there's the gear for PR and then there's the real gear ...
Cool shades, but $500? For that price, I'd rather buy an Ipod Mini and a pair of Revo's.
For that much money, I would also expect a heads-up display built into one of the lenses displaying track info.
"Cool shades, but $500? For that price, I'd rather buy an Ipod Mini and a pair of Revo's."
Well I agree that they are expensive but you can't forget that Oakley is a luxury brand name, if price (not ability) is your number one concern these might not be for you.
I wouldn't take Revo's over Oakleys any day of the week, personally
Mentioning an Ipod isn't quite fair since the thing is big (even the mini) compared to this. The whole idea behind these is a product designed with someone who is athletic in mind, both eye protection and music without restraint (like bloody wires) at the same time.
I think it's usually called hybridization, where you take two separate functions that a consumer wants and roll them into one product. The closer the two functions are related the lower the cost generally, since these two things have little to do with each other (in a technical sense) you pay for the luxury.
I think this was a pretty innovative idea from Oakley.
I have a suggestion that hopefully the R/D people at Oakley take to heart, manufacture a set of glasses that has an embedded earpiece like these, but make it have a Bluetooth or an FM receiver and partner with a technology company (maybe even get Apple to produce a special Ipod) that makes a small digital music player that has much greater storage can be put in a pocket that can transmit music to the glasses/earphone. That kind glasses/earphones thing would be great for Bluetooth enabled cell phones for having a wireless hands free unit. Really I encourage anyone -- Oakley included to innovate in this arena.
The big key here is no wires, wires make music hard to have as an athelete.
Veritech your Bluetooth idea makes a lot of sense to me, I hope they do something like that as well. I already am a patron of their glasses, I use a cell phone and I like music. I do think they liked the idea of an all in one product better because even having to deal with a transmission unit could be difficult if you've got no place to put it; in that situation this a the perfect solution.
The idea is just a little ahead of it's time. In a couple of years think how much memory could be put into that little space, likely instead of 2 albums worth of music you could put 20 on it.
(insert some time digging on google)
It looks like http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/oakley-thump-mp3-sunglasses-legit-017564.php has another write up and the bluetooth idea is something that is rumored (it also mentions a prototype with a microphone in the nose bride. I wonder what that could be used for... (cough cough heh, hum, Bluetooth Cell phone) There is a model at $399.00 if/when this comes to market it has Bluetooth capability I could see this becoming mildly popular.
I would definitely buy a pair of Oakley glasses that had an embedded Bluetooth Mic/Earphones for $399.00 the mp3 payer at that point is just a bonus.
I was sent two "confirm your comment" e-mails (I only submitted the comment once) and I thought I had to "confirm" twice becuase of that. Oops! if you can moderate this please delete this message and the duplicate of my post, thanks.
This sunglass is expensive. Im not going to lie. However, whoever said that they would buy an iPOD mini and a pair of Revo's is crazy. I hope you dont think that Revo is a better sunglass. If you look at the Private Pilot report for 2004, Oakley came out number one! What does that mean, it is the best sunglass out on the market. And for you guys who say that you are paying for the name, remember when Oakley first came out in 1979? Their prices on that M-Fame, of Razor as some of you might know it as, was $145. And what price is it now? $145. Also, dont knock something that you guys cant afford. Look up Oakley and see why they are priced the way they are.
Oakley didn't do sunglasses in 1979. They didn't release the "Eyeshade" until 1984 and the price was $60. This Thump thing is a stretch. It's a novelty item like the stupid looking "Over The Top" sunglass. Not everything Oakley does is a winner
go to www.oakley.com. they have more pics of people wearing the music player, looks sick.
I think they look a little ugly, you can get much better mp3 players for roughly the same price/ cheaper.
Nice idea, though
great idea but imho the glasses look ugly. the sides look like an old transformers toy gun.
Well I just got a demo on the thump at Circuit City I was able to wear a pair and listen to them and understand how the work, and all I have to say about the negitive feedback listed above is, you will be missing out! They FEEL lighter than any sunglasses I wear and sounded better than the MP3 player I currently have, and no worries about you guys that don't like them, by the time you want a pair they will most likely be sold out(from what I see currently 1 to 2 week after release), by current customer feedback! There are already customers coming in and putting MONEY DOWN sight unseen. ... TAKE THAT TO THE BANK!
I also heard that there was a professional downhill race where Brian Lopes won the overall Race with these Thumps on... so all athletes need to take a look!
Is Lopez with "Z"!!! ...not Lopes!
Bad design. They look monstrous. You need a monstrous look to match with them, like the look of the people show in oakley.com
They looks like some extraterrestrial animal is suking your brain.
I hope somebody will came later with an sleeker design for that kind of product.
Bad design. They look monstrous. You need a monstrous look to match with them, like the look of the people show in oakley.com
They looks like some extraterrestrial animal is suking your brain.
I hope somebody will came later with an sleeker design for that kind of product.
I have two pairs of oakley sunglases, man, trust me, they were worth every penny. I'm definitely getting these too, they're so sick... But the flip up function looks so retarded.
Looks like RadioShack of Canada is carrying these now.
http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/November2004/15/c3201.html
128MB and 256MB verisons are offered.
The stores in the US have not offered these yet.
The headphones that come with the THUMPs are really nice and clear. If anyone has an Oakley O-Store near by then go check them out. They're really light weight (1.8 oz) and really comfortable. I do have to admit that the flip up lens does look a little dorky but will come in handy when needed.
Considering I've just been lucky enough to purchase a pair of these for my Husband as a Christmas Present(from the first shipment to Australia thanks to the fabulous Oakley sales crew down there) all of this feedback makes for an interesting read. Regardless of the negative comments I am still unperturbed and can hardly wait for my Husband's reaction when he sees them. They are a brilliant idea and a brilliant design......full stop. If you have the money to buy them...do it. I have tried on a pair myself and fell in love...my husband is a golf nut..perfect for the driving range or a round on his own. Possibilities are endless!
I think I will hold off on getting anything like these sun glasses until 1. the actual mp3 player section gets smaller and 2. when they aren't so expensive! Aren't they about $500 - way too much for sunglasses.
I couldn't believe the price or the abilities of these glasses when I first heard of them. i don't like the original scoop saying that they are ugly, because that is personal opinion, not factual information. I write this because (dun da dunnn), mine just came in the mail today! Rather than from Oakley, from Ebay for a grand total of about $375 USD. I needed an MP3 player, I needed a flash drive, and I needed sunglasses. Why not get them all in one? Let the record show...
** THEY ARE AN AMAZING PRODUCT!! **
The sound is superior, and they fit nicely to your head, and the flip up lenses are extremely useful and handy. "Why have an MP3 player on your waist when your ears are on your head?" quoting the Oakley Website. Seems to make sense to me, especially since I snowboard and play poker, both activites lend themselves nicely to these glasses.
Veritech - bluetooth and these glasses. EXACTLY what I thought about, too. And at the same time, since it IS a flash drive, why not give it camera capabilities? Technology is shrinking everything down so much nowadays, I know they could do that without adding much size or weight. Can anyone imagine that? A cell phone, camera built in to your music/mp3/radio playing Oakley's? Dream come true for me.
My recommendation - DON'T buy them. Only because I want to be one of a few that has them! amazing product, once again.
help - i bought the oakley thump 256mb. when i got home, i tried to load my music from my ipod / itunes library. NOTHING loaded! does anyone know how to load music from the ipod / library to the oakley's (format issues!) please help. i would be grateful. jonathan
I've enjoyed the Oakley Thumps for several months now. I have my computer programmed to record an Internet radio show nightly and transfer it to the glasses, erasing the previous show. I only record 3.5 hours so I can also include some of my favorite songs from iTunes. And yes, iTunes will work. The workaround, is to burn an audio CD, and then import the songs back in and convert to MP3 format. These glasses work perfectly for heavy running or working where you use your hands a lot. With other portable players, there is a tendency for the wires to get in the way.
cksupplier@gmail.com
I agree these are cool shades but for whoever keeps telling you that Oakley's are the best glasses out there, tell them to quit justifying why they spent so much on a pair of glasses. For those of you who think that I say this because I can't "afford" a pair. I have owned multiple pairs of Oak's even a pair of Romeo's. I switched a few years ago to Maui Jim's and am still paying around $200.00. They have a superior lens. Find an outside sunglass shop and compare. I think you will find the polarized lens's Maui Jim's out do anything the Oakley's can do. If you want a killer looking pair of shades go with the Oak's just know they don't have the best lenses.
Hmmmmm, aren't these really made in china very cheap?
Go see for yourself in my web link. What a scam to charge so much and put your name on a very low cost item in china.