Purchase research rabbit holes

I’ve been contemplating getting some binoculars for use at air shows and much like when I was looking for a microscope for micrometeorite hunting or looking for a new mattress, I’ve really enjoyed the fun of researching something with next to no previous knowledge of the domain.

After fumbling around on YouTube I finally found Best Binocular Reviews - a fantastic one-stop-shop for binocular information. Finding independent review websites for niche categories is challenging these days as they tend to get drowned out in search engine results in favour of ‘review’ websites that happen to have the best SEO but lack any real content due to the ‘reviewer’ having no experience with the product they’re reviewing. However if they also provide content on YouTube then it can be an entry point into their website. I’ve had the same experience when looking for air-band radios, telescopes and watches.

It’s great that sites like this still exist as the amount of work required to build a website that not only gets enough traffic to remain viable but also provides genuinely valuable content is tricky.

I find falling down a rabbit hole with a completely unfamiliar topic very enjoyable. It’s the same with software development, finding out about a whole class of library I had no idea existed is good fun. Many people seem to dislike researching for themselves, not enjoying the effort or the independent thought required, perhaps this is a characteristic that defines a good developer?