Amazon Prime Air Could Deliver In 30 Minutes- Via Drone

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Speaking of paying a driver, or tipping a drone, though...

Think about this-- that $30 surcharge for a delivery may not be necessary.  You get enough delivery drivers off the roads, and off the payroll- I could see service improving AND costs coming down.  That's the free-market norm, anyway.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

And to be fair- you have a valid point for there being no metrics on the times humans make needed corrections and an incident or accident doesn't happen.  Gun rights advocates have been making the "crime that doesn't happen" argument for years, so it's just as valid here.  And I can't argue with your Captain Sully example, either- though I will say, the man is an arrogant prick.  I'll skip the details, but good on him for what he did, but I wish he wasn't such a jackass in person.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

And I could easily see drones automating the warehouses-- as product pickers.  Maybe they will make only a small fraction of deliveries, but I could see them loading the conveyor belts-- going and getting the items, dropping them in a box, putting it on a belt.  I could see, even if there's a delivery driver, a drone / robot doing everything but the driving.

[billisonboard]

In the year 5555

[billisonboard]

Dec 3, 2013 23:58:19 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

...
You won't need a driver's license by 2040

Oh to be a teenager in 2040

[EVT1]

Dec 4, 2013 0:35:45 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

And I could easily see drones automating the warehouses-- as product pickers.  Maybe they will make only a small fraction of deliveries, but I could see them loading the conveyor belts-- going and getting the items, dropping them in a box, putting it on a belt.  I could see, even if there's a delivery driver, a drone / robot doing everything but the driving.

I thought Amazon was already automating warehouses- I know I saw a show a while back on it- nothing like the old days.  All of it has changed- I know when I was in college I stocked shelves at night at Kroger and had to place orders- still  on a handheld computer mind you- and had to upload those at the end of the night for the next day- it was as easy as scanning the bar codes going down the aisles- and that was high tech considering my home computer at the time was a Commodore 64.  All old school now- real time inventory tracking is the new tech- no need for someone to place orders anymore.  

I brought this up on another thread- what do we do when the tech has become so efficient that there is not a sufficient need for workers to employ everyone?  We went from a manufacturing society, to a service society, what's next?  If robots drive our trucks, serve/cook us our food, fight our wars, you name it, what is left for anyone to do other than fix the machines?  Reminds me of something I read once about the future factory- there will be a man and a dog- the man will feed the dog and the dog will keep the man away from the machinery.

[EVT1]

As I thought no answer.  The world cannot work when the only labor needed is 10% of the population,  All you get is pitchforks and they will be well deserved.

[Shooby]

Dec 4, 2013 1:12:14 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Dec 4, 2013 0:35:45 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

And I could easily see drones automating the warehouses-- as product pickers.  Maybe they will make only a small fraction of deliveries, but I could see them loading the conveyor belts-- going and getting the items, dropping them in a box, putting it on a belt.  I could see, even if there's a delivery driver, a drone / robot doing everything but the driving.

I thought Amazon was already automating warehouses- I know I saw a show a while back on it- nothing like the old days.  All of it has changed- I know when I was in college I stocked shelves at night at Kroger and had to place orders- still  on a handheld computer mind you- and had to upload those at the end of the night for the next day- it was as easy as scanning the bar codes going down the aisles- and that was high tech considering my home computer at the time was a Commodore 64.  All old school now- real time inventory tracking is the new tech- no need for someone to place orders anymore.  

I brought this up on another thread- what do we do when the tech has become so efficient that there is not a sufficient need for workers to employ everyone?  We went from a manufacturing society, to a service society, what's next?  If robots drive our trucks, serve/cook us our food, fight our wars, you name it, what is left for anyone to do other than fix the machines?  Reminds me of something I read once about the future factory- there will be a man and a dog- the man will feed the dog and the dog will keep the man away from the machinery.

I think that's called "progress". You know, we don't need as many people to make saddles anymore because we don't ride horses.  I think I will vote with progress.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Dec 4, 2013 3:14:05 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

As I thought no answer.  The world cannot work when the only labor needed is 10% of the population,  All you get is pitchforks and they will be well deserved.

You lefties and statists always assume that technology eliminates rather than creates jobs.  There was no great buggy whip workers strike.  They made cars instead.  Automation increases productivity and results in better paying jobs (that aren't nearly as as shitty) for those that qualify.  So, in other words you won't need to climb ladders and stock shelves, but you will have to service the equipment that does.  The great workers uprising is NEVER coming.  EVER.  You can keep waiting for it like cult members waiting for the comet, but it's just not going to happen.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jeff Bezos and Our Robot Future...

www.nationalreview.com/article/365311/jeff-bezos-and-our-robot-future-rich-lowry

...As Derek Thompson of The Atlantic points out, Bezos is wise to be thinking ahead, given how rapidly dominant retailers are overtaken by more-nimble competitors. As of 1982, according to Thompson, Sears was still the biggest retailer in America. Soon enough, it would be a fraction of the size of Walmart. In imagining a drone future, Bezos is honoring the prime directive of retail: Get people what they want, cheaper and faster, using the latest technology.

He’s not the first to think about drone delivery. Domino’s in Britain flew a demonstration pizza-delivery flight earlier this year. Fred Smith of FedEx has talked of switching the company’s fleet over to drones. A futuristic “blended wing” design that doesn’t distinguish clearly between body and wing would allow more room for cargo, according to Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired and now the CEO of 3D Robotics.

Assuming the FAA gets out of the way, drones could have a variety of applications that don’t involve spying or firing missiles at terrorists. They could be used to monitor power lines and pipelines. They could be used in search-and-rescue efforts. They could be used in making movies and promotional videos. They could be used to evaluate storm damage. And they could be valuable to farmers.

Anderson believes drones may be the future of agriculture, allowing farmers to monitor large fields more carefully and use water and pesticides with greater precision and care. Japan realized this long ago. Its ministry of agriculture began promoting the use of drones in the early 1980s. Now, 40 percent of Japan’s rice crop is sprayed by unmanned aircraft...

[zibazinski]

Good, so would you please open Macy's early today so I can get the last two presents that I had to wait to pick up and get the Christmas box shipped to Florida finally?

[Deleted]

It is weird to me that most of the chatter I have heard about the Amazon/drone issue is negative.

Since when did the US become so scared about innovation? That to me is a bad sign.

[workpublic]

they'll get stolen

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 9:18:20 GMT -5 workpublic said:

they'll get stolen

That is illegal.

[Sum Dum Gai]

So is shoplifting but retailers still spend millions a year combating it. What is Amazon planning to do about theft of the delivered goods? My UPS guy will put a package up on the porch near the door, behind the planter where it's not visible from the street. A drone is going to leave it in my unfenced front yard or driveway. If I order something while I'm at work and it's stolen before I get home, I'm going to dispute the charge on my card. Is Amazon going to pass that loss through to the retailer or eat it?

[Virgil Showlion]

Dec 4, 2013 10:49:42 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

So is shoplifting but retailers still spend millions a year combating it. What is Amazon planning to do about theft of the delivered goods? My UPS guy will put a package up on the porch near the door, behind the planter where it's not visible from the street. A drone is going to leave it in my unfenced front yard or driveway. If I order something while I'm at work and it's stolen before I get home, I'm going to dispute the charge on my card. Is Amazon going to pass that loss through to the retailer or eat it?

Archie is being facetious.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 10:49:42 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

So is shoplifting but retailers still spend millions a year combating it. What is Amazon planning to do about theft of the delivered goods? My UPS guy will put a package up on the porch near the door, behind the planter where it's not visible from the street. A drone is going to leave it in my unfenced front yard or driveway. If I order something while I'm at work and it's stolen before I get home, I'm going to dispute the charge on my card. Is Amazon going to pass that loss through to the retailer or eat it?

Amazon will have to figure it out. 

I just can't beleive the amount of comments that sound to me like they basically want to shut this down before it even starts .    It is just so weird to me.    Why wouldn't we want Amazon to try and innovate?  Every company should be so innovative. 

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 11:17:32 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Dec 4, 2013 10:49:42 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

So is shoplifting but retailers still spend millions a year combating it. What is Amazon planning to do about theft of the delivered goods? My UPS guy will put a package up on the porch near the door, behind the planter where it's not visible from the street. A drone is going to leave it in my unfenced front yard or driveway. If I order something while I'm at work and it's stolen before I get home, I'm going to dispute the charge on my card. Is Amazon going to pass that loss through to the retailer or eat it?

Archie is being facetious.

Not really.   


When GPS units were first sold as after market units for cars there were very expensive.  Thiefs were stealing them out of cars left and right.    Is that a good reason for companies to not sell GPS units?

[Sum Dum Gai]

Innovation is only worthwhile if it actually fills a need. Do you need your new iPhone delivered to your front yard by mini helicopter in 30 minutes? If your dog or child are hurt by the drone, or screw with it and Amazon comes after you for the cost, will it have been worth it?

Will the drone know the difference between my front and back yard? If it drops it out front we're good, as long as my package doesn't get jacked. If it tries to land in my backyard my dog might go after it, and I'm not paying for any damages to the quadrotor, but would expect Amazon to pay for any injury to my dog. I imagine the parents of little kids that get hurt because they get too close to the cool helicopter thing trying to land in their yard are going to be pretty pissed at Amazon too.

How good is the drone at avoiding collisions while carrying a payload and trying to land?

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Innovation is only worthwhile if it actually fills a need.

ROFL!!!!!!

Since  when? 

[Sum Dum Gai]

All great ideas fill a need. Some of them fill a need we didn't realize existed before the solution came along, but they're great because they're useful. Pointless innovation is a Rube Goldberg machine, or has the potential to be. I could build a 500 piece machine that lets me turn off my living room TV from the garage, but I never need to, so I don't bother.

Do you need your stuff from Amazon in 30 minutes? Or, like my complex simple physics machine to turn off my TV from another part of the house, is it completely pointless but fun to watch?

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 12:41:49 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

All great ideas fill a need. Some of them fill a need we didn't realize existed before the solution came along, but they're great because they're useful. Pointless innovation is a Rube Goldberg machine, or has the potential to be. I could build a 500 piece machine that lets me turn off my living room TV from the garage, but I never need to, so I don't bother.

Do you need your stuff from Amazon in 30 minutes? Or, like my complex simple physics machine to turn off my TV from another part of the house, is it completely pointless but fun to watch?

I don't need stuff from Amazon in 30 minutes.   I also don't need to access facebook on my phone, but apparently millions do need to. 


We haven't had a lot of real need in this country for a long time.   maybe in the healthcare or agriculture field.  Other than that, wants are where we are.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I do need access to Facebook from my phone. It's one of the main advertising media for my business. We did a promotion over the weekend where I put on a Where's Waldo costume and stood in the crowd of the town lights on parade. Anyone who found me got a 15% off coupon good until December 31st. People loved it! You can't do stuff like that without instantaneous mobile access to your customers.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 12:51:19 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I do need access to Facebook from my phone. It's one of the main advertising media for my business. We did a promotion over the weekend where I put on a Where's Waldo costume and stood in the crowd of the town lights on parade. Anyone who found me got a 15% off coupon good until December 31st. People loved it! You can't do stuff like that without instantaneous mobile access to your customers.

And some people will need to get deliveries from amazon in 30 minutes.

[Sum Dum Gai]

From Amazon? I don't see it. I could see a business that would love the technology though. Drug distributor. Sell online, take payment in bit coin, deliver by drone. What's the street value of 10 pounds of cocaine? Enough to make the drone delivery worth it, I'm thinking.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 13:29:25 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

From Amazon? I don't see it. I could see a business that would love the technology though. Drug distributor. Sell online, take payment in bit coin, deliver by drone. What's the street value of 10 pounds of cocaine? Enough to make the drone delivery worth it, I'm thinking.

No one saw you needing Facebook on a phone 5 years ago.

[workpublic]

i meant that the drones will get stolen.   but i can see the package stealing angle too.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Dec 4, 2013 8:45:35 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

It is weird to me that most of the chatter I have heard about the Amazon/drone issue is negative.

Since when did the US become so scared about innovation? That to me is a bad sign.

That's about all I'm saying.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Dec 4, 2013 13:29:25 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

From Amazon? I don't see it. I could see a business that would love the technology though. Drug distributor. Sell online, take payment in bit coin, deliver by drone. What's the street value of 10 pounds of cocaine? Enough to make the drone delivery worth it, I'm thinking.

You bring up an interesting point- at some dollar / utility value, people WILL pay $30 for a "marginal" (800% compared to 24 hours) improvement in delivery time.

[Virgil Showlion]

Dec 5, 2013 13:15:20 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Dec 4, 2013 13:29:25 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

From Amazon? I don't see it. I could see a business that would love the technology though. Drug distributor. Sell online, take payment in bit coin, deliver by drone. What's the street value of 10 pounds of cocaine? Enough to make the drone delivery worth it, I'm thinking.

You bring up an interesting point- at some dollar / utility value, people WILL pay $30 for a "marginal" (800% compared to 24 hours) improvement in delivery time.

It's called "driving 4 km to pick it up", given the effective range of these quadcopters is a ~8 km round trip.

Now I'll grant you: I don't know how drug kingpins will operate in future. I don't see them sending $100 drones with little coke pouches buzzing over the landscape to clients who'd sell their own mother for a fix, but it could happen.