Peter,
I salute your enthusiasm for design, technology, and binoculars. I have been a binocular aficionado for longer than I care to admit, but long enough to have seen a pretty significant revolution.
There have been several factors. One is phase correction in roof prisms which appeared commercially in the late 1980s. Prior to that it was much more difficult for even a top quality roof prism binocular to compete with a decent Porro. The second factor is a general upgrade in anti-reflective coatings improving transmission and durability. Standardization of container shipping contributed a boom in Asian manufacturing for export to specified optical design. This last rocked both the telescope and the binocular business, not to mention the rest of the world economy. Also, advances in digital technology changed design, marketing, and sales for binoculars. And finally, image stabilization (IS) technology based on advances in piezoelectric miniaturization showed up in Canon binoculars during the 1990s. I gather they initially developed it for their camera market.
Canon's IS revolutionized astronomical binocular observing for me 20 years ago. I have their 10x30 and 15x45 IS binoculars. They are essentially Porro prism binoculars with battery powered electronic IS. I know of a few people who bird with the 10x42, but I bird pretty regularly (often several times a week) and at least once a week I am with a group. I have seen someone else using an IS binocular perhaps once or twice. When I started birding a couple years ago, I was shocked at the improvement in image quality, and especially price vs. quality for roof prism binoculars. Performance that was unavailable at any price 30 years ago is available in mid-priced roof prism binoculars routinely and under the right circumstances in the $150 range.
I have nothing against IS, in fact as I said I like them for astronomy or for sports or concert. Yet I don't use them routinely for birding essentially for ergonomic reasons (I am speaking primarily of the 15x45, but it is true for the 10x30 as well). The Canon optics are very nice, but compared to similarly sized objectives, they are considerably heavier, bulkier, harder to point, have slower focus, don't focus as close, the IPD isn't as adjustable (I need a very narrow IPD), I find the eyecups less comfortable and less adjustable. Newer models may be more weather proof, but I would not consider them to be nearly as rugged as a well built roof prism binocular. Most of these things are not show stoppers for astronomy, but for birding, between the bulk/weight and handling problems, I simply don't use them.
I am seeing quite a few birders with super-zoom fixed lens cameras. These are relatively tech rich devices including IS and enough automation that once you have the camera set up, you take a quick burst of shots of a distant bird with the hope that one will be sufficiently in focus and showing the distinctive markings you seek or that someone more knowledgable will explain. Also many birders today are using networked smart phone apps for tracking what they see, for planning outings, and for online handbooks. So I don't think birders are particularly technology averse.
Alan