What is your thoughts on Amazon flying delivery drones?

[Clamman73]

Timmy's mom: How did you get that dirty movie?

Little Timmy: It came out of the sky and landed on the neighbor's lawn. Finders keepers.

What would be worse is Amazon drones dropping "Sharknado" dvds!

 

[G00fyDad]

There's quite a bit of difference in dropping a package in a warehouse from 4 feet above the ground to dropping a package from 10,000 feet above peoples heads.

Like Steve said, this was a publicity stunt and very similar to Google's April fools jokes.

Publicity stunt or not, the idea is a little cool, and scary at the same time.

 

[Master Yoda]

Amazon is already taking a giant bite out of you local merchants pockets and shutting down Mom & Pop operations around the nation, why not go ahead and put UPS and FedEx out of business as well?

I think the FAA will put a stop to this.

Sorry, but I can simply not agree with this way of thinking. It is the equivalent of lamenting over the loss of all the pony express riders because the USPS now uses trucks.

Virtually every advancement in technology since the dawn of time has either eliminated a job or moved it to another field. A business is doomed to die if it can not evolve to meet changing market conditions.

 

[G00fyDad]

Sorry, but I can simply not agree with this way of thinking. It is the equivalent of lamenting over the loss of all the pony express riders because the USPS now uses trucks.

Virtually every advancement in technology since the dawn of time has either eliminated a job or moved it to another field. A business is doomed to die if it can not evolve to meet changing market conditions.

Diversify. Any business that doesn't isn't going to last long.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

What would be worse is Amazon drones dropping "Sharknado" dvds!

Or Sharknados dropping Amazon dvds.

 

[Gabe1]

There's quite a bit of difference in dropping a package in a warehouse from 4 feet above the ground to dropping a package from 10,000 feet above peoples heads.

R e a l l y ? ? ? lol

For all the UPS loaders out there...they don't get to load inside a warehouse. They are out in the elements with an overhang. So if it is -2 or 110 this is how they are loading, with a continuous belt of boxes coming at them as they build box walls. All the while supervisors are tossing in a few here and there with wrong zipcodes checking to see if they are double checking all boxes zipcodes. DH only worked there a few years, not a fun job but it paid well for part-time. They also give part timers college tuition reimbursement.

Like Steve said, this was a publicity stunt and very similar to Google's April fools jokes.

To me, it was so similar to the stupid flying dragon over FLE for the media. Speaking of which, did that dragon ever come out of the warehouse again? Expensive stunt.

 

[unkadug]

Sorry, but I can simply not agree with this way of thinking. It is the equivalent of lamenting over the loss of all the pony express riders because the USPS now uses trucks.

Virtually every advancement in technology since the dawn of time has either eliminated a job or moved it to another field. A business is doomed to die if it can not evolve to meet changing market conditions.

So then why is everyone all upset on Disney's use of tracking software in the Magic Bands....if we are not willing to embrace these changes, then perhaps we are all doomed to Six Flags.

 

[unkadug]

Something else I thought about....these drones would also have to be armed to prevent people from taking potshots at them in the air to get at the goods...

Somewhere over Podunk, Alabama..."Oh look that drone has a Fender guitar...I want that...kapow"

Not only that but there would have to be a fully stocked Amazon warehouse within 30 minutes flying time of everyone in the nation... never gonna happen.

 

[acishere]

Something else I thought about....these drones would also have to be armed to prevent people from taking potshots at them in the air to get at the goods...

Somewhere over Podunk, Alabama..."Oh look that drone has a Fender guitar...I want that...kapow"

Not only that but there would have to be a fully stocked Amazon warehouse within 30 minutes flying time of everyone in the nation... never gonna happen.

Also throw in some wind and/or rain along with some trees and power lines and that drone is going down.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Also throw in some wind and/or rain along with some trees and power lines and that drone is going down.

Crash and burn for sure.

 

[Master Yoda]

So then why is everyone all upset on Disney's use of tracking software in the Magic Bands....if we are not willing to embrace these changes, then perhaps we are all doomed to Six Flags.

You might want to be careful with blanket statements. I could care less if Disney tracks every single facet of the time I spend on their property.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

So then why is everyone all upset on Disney's use of tracking software in the Magic Bands....if we are not willing to embrace these changes, then perhaps we are all doomed to Six Flags.

Technically, companies track your online activity to choose advertisements to show you. All Disney is doing is taking it to a new level.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Something else I thought about....these drones would also have to be armed to prevent people from taking potshots at them in the air to get at the goods...

All they would have to do is reinforce the hull of the drones if they are finding this is an issue. But if they're flying high enough, why would it be an issue?

 

[KeithVH]

You would be surprised how high a 12 year old with a cheap Wrist Rocket can get with something the size of a .45 slug. I'm thinking a lot of bored kids in the summertime will just be itching for a chance to expand their playing soldier by adding DIVAD capability to their play.

 

[unkadug]

You might want to be careful with blanket statements. I could care less if Disney tracks every single facet of the time I spend on their property.

I meant "everyone" as in generalities...not "everyone" to include the sane members of this forum.

 

[unkadug]

All they would have to do is reinforce the hull of the drones if they are finding this is an issue. But if they're flying high enough, why would it be an issue?

The thing's got to get low enough to land SOMETIMES!

 

[G00fyDad]

I agree that this is a publicity stunt. They would only be able to carry small and lightweight items. No one is sending a bowling ball with these things.

 

[Master Yoda]

I agree that this is a publicity stunt. They would only be able to carry small and lightweight items. No one is sending a bowling ball with these things.

According to their data, these drones can carry about 5lbs which covers 86% of the products they sell.

 

[G00fyDad]

According to their data, these drones can carry about 5lbs which covers 86% of the products they sell.

Okay. Fair point. However, consider rain, high winds and other interference between take off and point of delivery as well as return flight. And what about dogs? I know my dog would take a big bite from it if it landed in my yard. I do not claim to be an expert on the subject by any means, but there just seems to be far too many variables that could go wrong on any given flight. I'm pretty sure that they would not want these things getting destroyed, lost or crashing every time they turned around.

 

[Master Yoda]

Okay. Fair point. However, consider rain, high winds and other interference between take off and point of delivery as well as return flight. And what about dogs? I know my dog would take a big bite from it if it landed in my yard. I do not claim to be an expert on the subject by any means, but there just seems to be far too many variables that could go wrong on any given flight. I'm pretty sure that they would not want these things getting destroyed, lost or crashing every time they turned around.

The first man ever put in space by the US was done in 1961. A mere 8 years later, Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon. If we can solve all of those problems, I am fairly confident that we can get autonomous drones to drop off a copy of "Eat, Pray, Love" on your doorstep.

There is no question that there are problems to overcome, the CEO said as much. He also said that this is 4-5 years in the future and it might never work, but to not try is foolhardy.