The Finer Things: Solar-Powered Backpack

I spend a good amount of time talking about how renewable initiatives and sustainable lifestyles will ultimately save money, mainly because that is the only way that these things are going to take hold in mainstream America/R.O.W.

However, lets face it, I'm high maintenance and I like the finer things in life. Those of you that know me totally know this is true seeing that I dine exclusively at Subway and wear my ripped jeans whenever I can get away with it.

So OBVIOUSLY this new item that is hitting the market caught my eye:

Ralph Lauren solar-powered backpack.

For only $800 dollars, this little ditty can be yours. Finally, I can promote clean energy and my cutting edge fashion-sense all in one move.

What's that, you say? You are wondering how much power this provides? Enough for your iPad 2, suckah!

The bag zaps up a 3.45-watt current, which charges a small device in two to three hours when the sun is at full strength.

Did I say iPad? I meant iPhone, but Google's webcrawler doesn't pay as much attention to old products, and I like attracting all sorts of misguided webtraffic.

In all seriousness, having solar panels on your backpack, briefcase, or whatever is a cool idea and someday will definitely be a reality, but until panels are more efficient at extracting energy from the sun's rays, these things are pretty much worthless.