App Monkey Business
Anyone who has an iPad knows it’s famously easy to operate, but considering the latest news coming out of the Milwaukee zoo, even the most entrenched, hard-hearted technophobes are out of excuses. As it turns out, the iPad is so simple, even a monkey can use one (OK, we know orangutans are apes and not monkeys, but we just couldn’t resist).
Conservationist Richard Zimmerman of Orangutan Outreach has been distributing iPads to the primates of the Milwaukee Zoo since last May, with some surprising results. Originally conceived as a way to raise awareness for endangered species, Zimmerman first allowed the orangutans access to simple apps like Doodle Buddy, but they’ve since learned to enjoy interactive picture books and streaming video. As it happens, orangutans are smart enough to know that what they see on a screen is actually happening somewhere, and it turns out that they’re sufficiently vain to prefer orangutan-based programming over everything else. As a matter of fact, Zimmerman’s next step is to set up a wi-fi network for the apes in Milwaukee, so they can log onto Skype and participate in “primate play-dates” with other orangutans in the U.S. and around the world.
Of course, outfitting orangutans with iPads raises its own set of problems, but Zimmerman is staying well ahead of the curve. Considering that tablet computers generally don’t tend to make the top of the list of financial priorities when it comes to conservation efforts, Zimmerman is looking forward to the release of the iPad 3, which is expected to drive down the cost of the first-generation iPad to manageable levels. And considering that the average orangutan is seven times stronger than the average human, the extra weight of the iPad 1 won’t be much of a problem. However, their innate strength does create other difficulties; for now, zookeepers are obliged to hold the iPads outside the cage, as Zimmerman estimates the tablet’s life span wouldn’t exceed 15 seconds were the apes allowed to carry them into the enclosure.
Of course, until the orangutans manage to sign up for credit cards and create iTunes accounts, there probably won’t be much of a market for ape-centric mobile apps. But for anyone still resisting the latest tablet technology because of the difficulties they might face, the orangutans of the Milwaukee Zoo are proof positive that that particular excuse doesn’t fly anymore.
