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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Animals / Tech Orangutans to Video Chat

Posted by on Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 5:05 PM

Holy shit:

Orangutans at a Milwaukee zoo could soon be video-calling their primate friends via tablet computers.

The hairy tech fans have been playing with iPads since they were first introduced to them in May.

Conservationist Richard Zimmerman said the next step would be to provide wi-fi access - meaning the apes could watch orangutans in other zoos.

I'll leave the greater exploration of the philosophical implications of orangutans using the fucking internet to watch other orangutans to Stranger Zoological Editor Charles Mudede, but I know one thing for sure: Those orangutans are going to be super-pissed that they missed out on the glory days of Chatroulette.

 

Comments (8) RSS

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rob! 1
The "higher" primates (I dislike that term)—the great apes—are all more or less on the edge of making evolutionary advances similar to those that have put humans where we are (if we don't directly or indirectly kill those other species first), so it is not at all surprising that they have the capacity to make intelligent use of tools that we have created first.

They don't have to understand all the technology behind their manufacture, any more than we as humans do.
Posted by rob! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBdUceCL5U on December 29, 2011 at 5:57 PM
SchmuckyTheCat 2
Don't give them Netflix subscriptions. They might watch Planet of the Apes and get ideas.
Posted by SchmuckyTheCat on December 29, 2011 at 6:06 PM
blackhook 3
Could Republicans be trained to do the same thing?
Posted by blackhook on December 29, 2011 at 10:17 PM
venomlash 4
If you're going to teach a non-human ape how to use technology, orangutans are your best bet. They're relatively antisocial, but their ability to figure out how things work is ridiculous.
Posted by venomlash on December 29, 2011 at 11:24 PM
knobtheunicorn 5
Whatever we do we CAN NOT! let banobos near a web browser! It'd be the end of them.
Posted by knobtheunicorn on December 30, 2011 at 3:09 AM
Vince 6
I don't think a keyboard is built for flung poo.
Posted by Vince on December 30, 2011 at 10:49 AM
7
Great - how'd those big orange furry bastards afford an iPad? Because I still don't have one ...
Posted by jhops on December 30, 2011 at 11:16 AM
8
Great. My 14 year old wants to friend them on FaceBook
Posted by catballou on December 30, 2011 at 7:10 PM

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