The Milwaukee Zoo apes are having a blast playing with iPads
…hey, at least I didn’t go for the cheap pun – “going Ape for iPads,” “made a monkey out of…” “snub their bananas in favor of Apple…” etc.
If there was any doubt about how intuitive it is to learn how to use an iPad, this article (and the other stories about zookeepers using iDevices with their charges) pretty much dispels it. I know from talking with a former primate keeper that the main problems with these critters are that 1) they are unbelivably strong and 2) they are bored out of their skulls. “It’s like taking care of a classroom full of insane, super-strong children,” she said.
I can’t wait until we figure out how to make an anti-poacher app that the endangered animals can use to call in an airstrike against those jackasses. Maybe the rise of “smart clothing” will lead to us putting the equivalent of the tracking collars we’ve used on bears, lions, sharks, etc. — on the few remaining wild animals, to help protect them from being shot & put on some stupid dentist’s wall.
It’s also interesting that the iPad experience is so compelling for the orangutans that they will play with it without having to be bribed with grapes. Of course, some people try to make a connection between the primates learning how to use computers, and the recent “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” movie.
Milwaukee Journal columnist Jim Stingl has way, way too much fun with this:
The late, great Samson the gorilla would never tolerate this. He was old school. If he wanted to create art, he could throw his feces at the wall. You don’t need an app for that.
I’m waiting for the first ape to figure out sexting. From what I’ve seen in the bonobo exhibit, there should be no shortage of naughty images to share.
Newspapers and magazines are pinning their futures on iPads and charging customers to read their stuff this way. Zoo animals might be an untapped market, but we’ll need to write more articles about vine swinging and tips for picking bugs off the fur of loved ones.
Zoo staff and volunteers hold the iPads, and the apes touch them through openings in their enclosures. Until these animals improve their IQs, you can’t hand them a $600 iPad unless you want to watch them treating it like the Samsonite luggage in the old commercial.
So, yes, the apes here have a ways to go before they plot a bloody coup. For now, they’re stuck with watching us outside the glass scratching our armpits and going, “OohOohAahAah.”
But heed my warning about the electronic evolution. They’re thinking outside the cage.
I’d love to see a wall-sized display for them where they can create music by banging, swiping or swinging in certain areas … I sense a new rhythm track for Lady GaGa.
