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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos thinks regular mail is too 20th century. Why wait for overnight delivery, when a helicopter drone can drop your package on your doorstep in half an hour?
Or, so goes the thinking behind Amazon Prime Air, which the tech entrepreneur insists is not parody or a put-on.
I can just see the pizza delivery hexacopter dropping off my hot pizza now, 3 minutes out of the oven.
On the other hand, it would be a double edged sword, so to speak. I would be surprised if drug dealers are not already using drones for smuggling and deliveries to customers.
Interesting concept, but I think it's unlikely that this ever sees the light of day. There are dozens of issues to take into account...logistical, technical and legal. Some of them are outside Amazon's control.
Amazon surely has very talented engineers and developers...but it wouldn't surprise me if this drone concept is nothing more than viral marketing.
I can see this more for in town deliveries, like mail, pizza, flowers. Definitely can see this. Instead of a pizza delivery guy, they can control several different drones to go to different places. Until they become programmed/self navigating in the next 30+ years.
Definitely can see this.
People who don't think any of this is feasible in the long-term are probably the same type of people who, 20-30 years ago or 40 years ago would have snarked at the idea of portable phones that can access any (public) info known to man, play games, make calls, start your car, set your home alarm, be a virtual book, and type up college papers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GravityMan
There are dozens of issues to take into account...logistical, technical and legal.
Technical aspects will be available in the future, if they aren't already. Logistical - Drone is at the distribution center (DC), someone on a computer or perhaps the order placed programs the next available drone(which has the capacity battery wise and strength wise) to pick the package from the DC based on the package's location in the DC tracked by a bar code or bluetooth-like sensor or some other tech I don't know about, the drone then flies it out of the DC through a programmed route to the address. When it arrives, Amazon (or whatever shipping company we are talking about in the future) notifies the recipient by phone/text, or perhaps virtual doorbell? If the package is received by someone, the drone takes a photo to protect the true receiver. ("I never got my package. *looks on site for tracking and sees delivery photos* That's not me! *money refunded*) Legal - rules/laws, etc can be made in the future.
---edit again,
Now that I think about it, Amazon doesn't deliver packages do they? I could see fedex or UPS using this technology....
Packages usually get sent to the nearest sorting facility before being placed on trucks that have routes in different areas. Maybe instead of routes, the drones deliver packages from that facility? Or the truck drives out to a central location in the route and the drones are sent out from there.
BUT then you have to take into account self-driving vehicles which will change the scope of delivery as well....
Last edited by NARFALICIOUS; 12-02-2013 at 02:58 PM..
Amazon will make more money on their second order and delivery of an extension ladder for those customers who need to get up on their roof in an effort to retrieve their 1st order that was delivered.
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