…it’s inevitable that the natural sport of two-fisted birdwatching is changing, has changed, is gonna change.
Recently we innocently wondered: what if binoculars didn’t just show the bird we aim at, but also show its NAME!
You know where this is going, right?
We checked, and of course such binoculars now exist. (We’re usually the last to know, when it comes to tech stuff).
These “smart binoculars” show the bird you’re focusing on, with its name superimposed like a caption. Amazing, probably costly, but not surprising.
Made us wonder…
In the 1820s, how did crusty old two-fisted birdwatchers react when regular binoculars became available? The rawboned sport of identifying birds was changed forever. Improved and expanded.
Some grumps probably said no to binoculars, as these things were possibly a kind of cheating. Most surely said—“I’m in.”
History repeats. Today we’re faced with using or not using “smart binoculars.” How do we feel about them?
Sorry. We can NOT think about this.
We’re going for a hike. We’ll take our old-fashioned binocs. And if they help us spot a bird we don’t know, we’ll break out the old bird book when we get home. It’s on a thing known as a bookshelf.
Meanwhile, the birds go about their business indifferent to us, cheerfully employing AI as they always have: Avian Intelligence.
