As optical equipment goes,
binoculars are really simple instruments, at least as far as how you use them. Really not much to binocular in the way of controls; maybe just a focusing knob and even that is not used on some military and
marine binoculars. Sure, there are a few tricks to using binoculars that help, but even someone who has never used a binocular (if there are such people) could take a new binocular out of a box and start using the binocular, right away, though a few minutes spent in the manual would not be a bad idea. No, using a binocular is not rocket science. In fact, it is baby stuff, compared to using other popular consumer products, such as
digital cameras or computerized
telescopes.
Why then are there so many hundreds or perhaps thousands of binoculars on the market? I doubt there is a simple answer, here, but I suspect it is a mostly a matter of binocular marketing; newer, better, improved, slicker, plus and so on have always been key words in selling more of any product and binoculars are no exception. I suspect, too, that new optical technologies have also found a ready home with binoculars, though I find it hard to imagine how some of the world’s best –
Swarovski binoculars,
Leica binoculars,
Zeiss binoculars,
Nikon EDG binoculars,
Steiner birding binoculars and so could get any better. Of course, I used to think that even fifteen years, ago and the binocular manufacturers do keep surprising me.