We all know those heavy, coin-operated binoculars perched on every scenic overlook in America, the ones you’ll find everywhere from the Empire State Building to the Grand Canyon. Turns out, they’ll soon start accepting tap-to-pay payments.
This is great news, as you’ll no longer need to carry a quarter anymore, and making payments with your smartphone is much more convenient. However, I’d argue that the quarter was kind of the whole point.
So why do these binoculars need a tech upgrade now?
Tower Optical, the company behind nearly 2,000 of these cast-iron binoculars across the United States and Canada, has been making them since 1933, and its owners have come up with an interesting yet sad insight.
Co-owner Adam Rice says that people still want to use the binoculars, but they’ve just stopped carrying quarters. It’s the growing popularity of contactless and digital payments that is to blame here (via WSJ).
A new ownership group is quietly replacing the old coin slots and timers with battery-powered, tap-to-pay terminals. The only visible change is a small antenna on top of the binoculars. The first retrofitted units go live this month, including the iconic viewers on top of Rockefeller Center.
Is this actually a win for tourists, or does it kill the vibe?
Here’s my honest take. This is definitely the right business call, especially since more and more people are getting accustomed to paying for stuff using their smartphone.
However, it is a slightly sad one at the same time, since these viewers survived almost a century by staying exactly the same, without any signs of digitization. No app, no screen, just you, a coin, and a view. Tap-to-pay keeps them alive, which is good as nobody wants these things to disappear.
But it also ties them to your phone, the same device Rice says people are using these binoculars to briefly escape from. The irony is not lost on anyone who has ever fumbled for change at the top of a mountain only to realize they could have just tapped their phone the whole time.
Tower Optical’s previous owner Greg Rising explored augmented-reality overlays that never shipped before he passed away in 2024, which was also when new investors took over. Their bet is simpler: don’t reinvent the experience, just fix the payment method, while keeping everything else just as nostalgic as it’s always been.