Amazon Uses Drones to Deliver Packages

[Stonewoot]

HOLY CRAP! The future is now! All your packages belong to us!

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Anyway i personally would love this idea if there was not huge chances for ppl to get hurt here. if we allow things like this to happen i believe evil people will use this as a way to hurt others. think about it .. bombs, yes i said it. thought the uni-bomber was evil before? think if they can do it via the air! holy crap!

.......

But if somehow we can completely track any type of aircraft like this then hell yeah, count me in.. but we all know there is a big chance that someone will now find a way to get off the radar with or without these drones flying around all-day..

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Ok anyway...

We one day will need this kind of tech.. but at the moment we have a LOT of humans out of work.. the cost to run one of these has to be less in the long run then a truck and it's gas.. i will only like this idea if EVERY drone is controlled by a person.. and that person has to have like 100 hours + of training like anyone who needs to learn to fly a plane. i do not want any chance of an excuse that my window was crashed into do to a training error..

AND that brings me to problem two... how much "accidental" privacy invasion is allowed? i am sure this thing will have a camera and even a few seconds of landing can get a peek into a window..

We could all enjoy a job or faster packages delivered but please when voting remember ... if they do become self aware our now imobile bodys from lack of lazyness will cause us to be like sheep to the slaughter!

 

[Brunn]

I dunno... it's a cool idea, and I imagine it's way more efficient then ground delivery in time and cost... But between privacy concerns and the thought of these malfunctioning and plummeting out of the sky into your car or face... Seems a little iffy! Plus, it's limited to the ten square miles around Amazon's 'Fulfillment Centers', I wonder how many of those are really out there?

 

[UnknownToaster]

Well to be fair, seriously, good luck selling your bombs on Amazon and having them stocked at the Amazon facilities in order to be sold. This is genuinely no different than before just faster.

If people want to use their own drones, this helps them none as it's not a technological advancement, it's a use of what we have. If it makes you feel better, your chance of being murdered via bomb in box is practically the same as before. Good luck!

Also, as for the 10 miles from facility, that's because this is the start. They don't plan on it being huge, they said in 4-5 years it should be ready and ready to send packages to practically anyones house within 60 minutes. (Says Amazon CEO, anyhow.) Right now, it's no where there, they've just announced plans and are trying things out.

 

[CM30]

My question is...

what if someone shoots one down mid flight?

I mean, you know how some people are with drones and potential spying, so there's always a good chance some lunatic might go after one with an anti aircraft gun or something.

Forget errors, think of the conspiracy theorists who might potentially have firepower and a nice target to use it on. I'm almost picturing someone on a site like Above Top Secret or Prison Planet/Info Wars boasting about how they shot down a spy drone sent by the NSA/men in black/whatever in some resistance against the one world order. Would you want your delivery potentially sent flying downwards and destroyed?

But the mentioned errors could be bad too. Again, if they mess up and one of these thing smashes into a tree or something, it's possibly my order that's going down in flames.

 

[Aensland]

My question is...

what if someone shoots one down mid flight?

I mean, you know how some people are with drones and potential spying, so there's always a good chance some lunatic might go after one with an anti aircraft gun or something.

Forget errors, think of the conspiracy theorists who might potentially have firepower and a nice target to use it on. I'm almost picturing someone on a site like Above Top Secret or Prison Planet/Info Wars boasting about how they shot down a spy drone sent by the NSA/men in black/whatever in some resistance against the one world order. Would you want your delivery potentially sent flying downwards and destroyed?

But the mentioned errors could be bad too. Again, if they mess up and one of these thing smashes into a tree or something, it's possibly my order that's going down in flames.


LOL I was thinking the same thing "Where's my shotgun? I've played games with those before!" I was also thinking "Here comes a major rise in 'U.F.O.' sightings..."

 

[thebestofblue]

My question is...

what if someone shoots one down mid flight?

I mean, you know how some people are with drones and potential spying, so there's always a good chance some lunatic might go after one with an anti aircraft gun or something.

Forget errors, think of the conspiracy theorists who might potentially have firepower and a nice target to use it on. I'm almost picturing someone on a site like Above Top Secret or Prison Planet/Info Wars boasting about how they shot down a spy drone sent by the NSA/men in black/whatever in some resistance against the one world order. Would you want your delivery potentially sent flying downwards and destroyed?

But the mentioned errors could be bad too. Again, if they mess up and one of these thing smashes into a tree or something, it's possibly my order that's going down in flames.


A friend of mine was saying that this was going to be a hill billy's lucky dip.

 

[wargazm]

Maybe then my packages would arrive on time.

or somebody could shoot it down and steal the goods! hey at least its better for the environment.

 

[UnknownToaster]

My question is...

what if someone shoots one down mid flight?

I mean, you know how some people are with drones and potential spying, so there's always a good chance some lunatic might go after one with an anti aircraft gun or something.

Forget errors, think of the conspiracy theorists who might potentially have firepower and a nice target to use it on. I'm almost picturing someone on a site like Above Top Secret or Prison Planet/Info Wars boasting about how they shot down a spy drone sent by the NSA/men in black/whatever in some resistance against the one world order. Would you want your delivery potentially sent flying downwards and destroyed?

But the mentioned errors could be bad too. Again, if they mess up and one of these thing smashes into a tree or something, it's possibly my order that's going down in flames.


I don't quite get what the point of this is, if someone destroys this, then your package is probably destroyed too, and that's very likely to be the end of the matter, maybe something might get scuffed when it crashes, but this thing isn't big, this is big enough to carry a typical package and drop it off. The likeliness of someone taking one down is similar to that of some 'lunatic' shooting down an rc helicopter.

I don't know where they're going to get an anti-aircraft gun, but it would be overkill, a potato gun could knock this out of the air. This is no drone like the military knows it. If they had a weapon capable of accurately hitting this while in air, then you have bigger concerns, like taking down a helicopter, which has people and has the mass to do some destruction when it comes down, not just a box with some slippers in it. This argument has little validity, considering this isn't exactly an issue with a new system, someone could use the same weapon you propose in the same situation against a UPS truck, where, again, has people and is capable of destruction as well, and if we were ever really concerned about our box of slippers, the UPS truck has way more packages.

If this thing breaks or is destroyed and falls out of the sky, worst thing that happens is it hits a tree and makes a dent. It could potentially hit a person, and they could be hurt, but depending on the height from which it fell, and I don't expect it to be incredibly high as it would be less stable to fly in, they won't be hurt too bad.

As for it being shot down by a conspiracy theorist, then they won't have much to show for it considering it's a dinky little toy meant only to move a package, let alone how easily it will be to trace it's origin. This is no top secret stealth vehicle, it's a glorified rc helicopter.

 

[CM30]

Just a few things though:

It doesn't matter who shoots it down (or for what reason), it's still more likely than the delivery truck being destroyed or the postman/mailman being intercepted. Manned vehicle = most people leave this alone. Unmanned delivery robot = target practice for whatever loony wants something to shoot at in a real life version of Space Invaders.

And it's not the damage. It's the fact it could be my purchase that's getting destroyed in the process. At least the delivery guy makes it to my house. The drone? Maybe not. Cue my expensive purchase lying in a field somewhere after it crashes down.

I'm also curious how exactly these things will be practical in many regions. I mean, Amazon has warehouses in and delivers to forested areas, right? Lots of ways that could go wrong.

There's also the funny joke online about someone in an active war zone ordering something from Amazon, and hoping the drone doesn't get shot down by soldiers/militants/both. Or some terrorist wondering whether this drone is delivering his new Amazon order or coming to assassinate him for the US military.

Oh, and I'm partly imagining some future in which other companies use something like this. Not sure I'd be too trusting of say, a fireworks shop delivering goods by drone. Or perhaps a military/ammunition store. You'd want to be a long way away if something like that ever malfunctioned.

 

[Brunn]

If this thing breaks or is destroyed and falls out of the sky, worst thing that happens is it hits a tree and makes a dent. It could potentially hit a person, and they could be hurt, but depending on the height from which it fell, and I don't expect it to be incredibly high as it would be less stable to fly in, they won't be hurt too bad.




I wouldn't imagine they'd be flying too terribly high either, but it's still a big chunk of metal and plastic, with pointy corners, sharp edges, and rotary chopper blades on it. It doesn't a very high fall for something to crack or break through a house window or a windshield, and I still wouldn't want that thing to fall on me. It has to fly high enough to get over buildings, and if it's not something I feel comfortable with tossing off my roof onto my car or a person, then it's not something I buzzing around overhead. I suppose they're not any more likely to come down then an actual airplane is, but there are far more obstacles at the levels where they'll be flying, and I doubt they'll have as highly skilled tech peeps working to double check these all the times like they do with airplanes. It'll be the same poorly paid peeps who are stuck minding the machines that pack stuff into boxes I'd think, and shoving things onto trucks.

Also, they're only offering it within ten miles of their distribution centers, which are mostly in urban areas I believe... I really find it hard to believe people are going to be hanging out their windows, shooting down Amazon drones with rifles, at least not without anyone noticing and calling the cops!

 

[Moclon]

And where exactly will it put the package if I live in an apartment? What about thugs? I bet that thing wont last more than a minute laying there on a Queen's sidewalk.

Either way, it's a pretty cool idea if you want to practice your shooting skills.

 

[UnknownToaster]

Just a few things though:

It doesn't matter who shoots it down (or for what reason), it's still more likely than the delivery truck being destroyed or the postman/mailman being intercepted. Manned vehicle = most people leave this alone. Unmanned delivery robot = target practice for whatever loony wants something to shoot at in a real life version of Space Invaders.

And it's not the damage. It's the fact it could be my purchase that's getting destroyed in the process. At least the delivery guy makes it to my house. The drone? Maybe not. Cue my expensive purchase lying in a field somewhere after it crashes down.

I'm also curious how exactly these things will be practical in many regions. I mean, Amazon has warehouses in and delivers to forested areas, right? Lots of ways that could go wrong.

There's also the funny joke online about someone in an active war zone ordering something from Amazon, and hoping the drone doesn't get shot down by soldiers/militants/both. Or some terrorist wondering whether this drone is delivering his new Amazon order or coming to assassinate him for the US military.

Oh, and I'm partly imagining some future in which other companies use something like this. Not sure I'd be too trusting of say, a fireworks shop delivering goods by drone. Or perhaps a military/ammunition store. You'd want to be a long way away if something like that ever malfunctioned.


But now this is an entirely different situation, one much more likely, but still different. Before you referred to a "lunatic" with an "anti-air gun" and referred to conspiracy theorists who want to shoot it down for a glory story. I'll get to the arguments, but it's an imbalanced argument to change the situation. While a perfectly rational person just looking for some fun wouldn't should (or at least shouldn't) at something with people in it, a lunatic you suggested is not the most rational type of person.

As for people taking pot shots, this is a definite possibility, but whether people are in it or not sometimes doesn't matter to people. People take shots at blimps and airplanes on a surprisingly high rate. Fortunately with this, it's completely illegal and can put these people in huge trouble, even if it's the drone. The likeliness of this happening to YOUR package is low. It's a risk game, you hope something bad doesn't happen along the way just like you hope your package isn't lost in the mail or doesn't get stolen. This risk isn't very new and is also not very high. In the United States, gun laws are not hugely strict, but the amount of people with guns in a certain area is also dependent on factors. Hunting communities have lots, dangerous urban areas may have them, most places they're not majorly common place. Then there's places like the UK where gun laws are much further tightened, especially when considering between England and Wales from 2009-2010, less than 7000 police officers have been authorized to use weapons, and most fire arms aren't permitted for use by citizens unless they are licensed to use weapons like rifles for hunting, and even then they have to be safely contained, as well as not having a serious police record, i.e. firing at flying equipment, destruction of property, and public endangerment.

I don't think you have to worry too much.

 

[CM30]

Either way, I suspect it's not real:

Someone's posting an image supposedly by Amazon that's an obvious joke:

https://twitter.com/QuantumPirate/status/407439281989640192/photo/1/large

Makes a lot of people suspect this could be just an attention seeking stunt by the company to 'remain relevant'. Also, Waterstones responded in cheek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtoSsE_4qU

 

[UnknownToaster]

Either way, I suspect it's not real:

Someone's posting an image supposedly by Amazon that's an obvious joke:

https://twitter.com/QuantumPirate/status/407439281989640192/photo/1/large

Makes a lot of people suspect this could be just an attention seeking stunt by the company to 'remain relevant'. Also, Waterstones responded in cheek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtoSsE_4qU


The image is obviously a joke, but I don't believe that's cause to believe the drone idea is a hoax, not only is the idea very much possible, but it's actually not original. There is a restaurant that delivers pizza via their own drowns locally, and Amazon is an ambitious company. To remain relevant is also questionable as Amazon is easily one of the most successful services available right now. They're not having too many issues, it's incredibly popular and used in mass and they don't get much horrible press, they're really doing just fine.

On the other hand, the Owls idea is an immediate improvement on the idea. I can see this taking off, no pun intended, soon.

I do find it amusing that he doesn't look into the camera once, even further the reason for that being that he's clearly reading it off a script off the shot.

 

[Stonewoot]

lol you are also told never to look into the camera! XD

 

[Brunn]

We're not even taking into account other issues that might crop up, like this one here: http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/drone-hijacks-others-in-air-makes-them-zombies-131205.htm The article details how someone made a 'Skyjacking Drone', basically a drone that flies about and can tap into the networks that control other drones, insert files that cut said drone off from it's controller, and allow the 'Skyjacker' to take control of the other drone. While this specific one only works with other specific types, and doesn't allow you to take control of, say, a military attack drone, it does go to show that this is a new technology that's going to be rife with new problems! Who knows what sort of issues will even crop up? We might not even have to worry about a crazy with a rifle or bow out there gunning for your package, but other drones swooping in and 'skyjacking' them! XD

 

[CM30]

^ So we've got drone viruses now? Bloody hell, the world is going mad.