Category Archives: Response

Slate is WRONG – Bird Apps are great for kids and birds!

Posted on by
1

A Slate article posted yesterday “Birding Applications: Great For Kids, Bad for Birds?” has a title that is misleading at best, and at worst an outright lie. Strong words, I know, but I think warranted because getting children outside and learning is an imperative for society and a focus of ours at Birdeez.

Jason Bittel begins with a sentiment we can agree with:

Getting kids into nature is a tough sell today. Inside, we have computers, televisions, video games, and climate control. Outside, there are mosquitoes, sunburn, and poison ivy. Of course, these two worlds are not inherently incompatible, and smartphones are starting to provide a link between them.

After that point, children completely fall out of the article. There are no children with smartphones running amok destroying birds with their apps. Continue reading →

Birdeez One of the 14 Most Interesting Startups at DEMO – TechCrunch

Posted on by
Reply

TechCrunchLogoWe were picked up by TechCrunch for our appearance at DEMO. People always seemed shocked to have a Bird app as part of their lineup. Bird watching is one of the things that drove the development of the internet! Maybe we’ll have to do a retrospective on bird watching and technology.

From TechCrunch:

Ecolek’s Birdeez grew out of a student project at UC Santa Barbara. A bird in the hand is worth two on your phone, or something. The app, simply put, helps bird-watchers identify and track whales. No, just kidding, it helps them track birds they see on their routine bird-watching adventures. Birdeezows read descriptions of the avian animals you identify, keep track of all your sightings and even tweet about it. Get it? Tweet? Warning: This app may not have quite as much utility if you’re an urban dweller. You can only identify pigeons so many times.

WE DISAGREE! There are likely close over 50 species of birds near you even if you are in a city! We chose to launch the app with an American Kestrel because it is an amazingly beautiful bird you can see almost anywhere in the US. We also were looking for a Peregrine Falcon since that is a species that nests on City Hall in Santa Clara!

Read about the rest of the 14 Most Interesting Startups to Emerge from DEMO on TechCrunch.