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I got a good laugh reading about that this morning. Many people were claiming kids would be knocking the drones out of the sky. Good luck with that.
 
  The TV showed what was supposed to be the drone that they intend to use.  It looks pretty stable, so other than getting shot down, I think it should be relatively stable against kids.  However, they said it would drop the package a nd leave, and that seems to me to be quite a risk of theft.  Heck, last Christmas they were following the delivery trucks and stealing the parcels, following the drone copters would be way too easy.

Ed
 
Missing from the video is how they intend to retrieve the yellow pods for re-use.
 
And how do they avoid other aerial traffic? Are these autonomous or controlled by someone through a video camera? What if there were someone walking up the sidewalk just as it set the package down -- can it avoid them? What if there are undocumented obstacles? How do they ensure they have the correct address? Can they deliver to condos and apartments (there won't be someone waiting at the door as in the video) without high risk of almost immediate theft? If it's stolen who's responsible for the cost? How well does the drone handle strong winds and the accompanying extreme turbulence? Can it avoid a low flying flock of geese or other birds? How much extra does it cost?

That delivery in front of the door looked to me like strictly a setup without much basis in reality, so can it really work in the real world?.

I could probably think of a few other questions, but these will do for now.
 
SeilerBird said:
I got a good laugh reading about that this morning. Many people were claiming kids would be knocking the drones out of the sky. Good luck with that.
Kids?!!  I can just see these making terrific sport for the shotgun crowd...unless maybe if SCOTUS declared drones as people, too. ;D ;D
 
This is still in the conceptual stage, so it's easy for people to point out potential problems with it.  None of these are insurmountable but will take time to work out.  Why don't people focus on the advantages of a new concept?  It's easy to criticize but much harder to overcome the design problems.
 
I thought we were embracing the new system and giving Jeff Bazos some design/improvement ideas  ???
 
It will be very interesting to see how this develops.
I don't think arial traffic will be an issue if they keep it under 500 feet. They will also need to program blackout areas within 3 miles of any airport.
Don't know how they intend to assure this gets in the hands of the intended recipient.
The news release didn't say, but I presume these will be manually operated by amazon employees with cameras on the drone.
It wouldn't make sense to rely on GPS - There would be a lot of packages in yards and rooftops.
 
Ned said:
This is still in the conceptual stage, so it's easy for people to point out potential problems with it.  None of these are insurmountable but will take time to work out.  Why don't people focus on the advantages of a new concept?  It's easy to criticize but much harder to overcome the design problems.
Actually, critique of most any kind is generally a good thing.  It brings up the possibilities good and bad that may need to be addressed to develop a concept into a viable product or service.  Remember "Get a horse!" and "If God meant for man to fly..."?
 
Listing obvious objections here does no one any good.  Send them to Jeff Bezos for his consideration.  Personally, I'm looking forward to embracing our robot drone-wielding robot overlords :)
 
Yeah, great idea, but.... I worry about shipping/handling charges, landing fee taxes and property landing zone license fees.  Also requirement for size requirement of landing zone and Uncle Sam taxes for FAA approval in my area. Also....I think I'll stop here....getting a headache.

Of course none of the above applies to me, I am exempt....too old. lol
 
For us, it solves delivery while afloat. I'll just mark a helipad in the cockpit of the boat.
 
Tom said:
For us, it solves delivery while afloat. I'll just mark a helipad in the cockpit of the boat.

Good idea, Tom.  Better get on the horn right now to tell Amazon to make sure that they have the capability to handle ships in 5' swells. Also ask them if they deliver pizzas.
 
Also ask them if they deliver pizzas.

Already been done, http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/06/06/drones-have-a-future-in-deliveries-but-not-for-dominos-pizza
 
I don't think arial traffic will be an issue if they keep it under 500 feet. They will also need to program blackout areas within 3 miles of any airport.

Actually, Bob, if this actually happens, then you'll soon after see a lot of other businesses using drones (not to mention police, etc.), and they'll soon get to be peskier than a swarm of mosquitos, at least from a noise standpoint, especially around the downtown and industrial areas of large metro areas. I agree about keeping them away from airports, but there are other aviation-sensitive areas, as well, including eagle nesting areas and other wildlife restricted areas (there's at least one eagle nesting area within 5 miles of Denver's Jeffco, excuse me, Metro airport).
 
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