Amazon Reveals "Prime Air", Their Plans For 30-minute Deliveries By Drone

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Amazon Reveals "Prime Air", Their Plans For 30-minute Deliveries By Drone

Posted by samzenpus on Monday December 2, 2013 @01:06AM from the amazon-air dept.

Z80xxc! writes "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed during a CBS 60 Minutes interview that the company is working on a service called 'Prime Air' to deliver packages by autonomous octocopter drones within 30 minutes of hitting the 'buy' button. The plan still requires more testing and FAA approval, but Bezos predicts it'll be available to the public in the next 4-5 years. With a lot of backlash against drones, and some towns even offering bounties to shoot them down, will this technology ever take off, or is this just another one of Amazon's eccentric CEO's fantastical flight ideas?"

397 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Hmmmm by wbr1 · 2013-12-02 01:10 · Score: 2, Interesting

1. This technology
2.Silk Road 2
3.?????
4. PROFIT!

--
Silence is a state of mime.
1. Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  1. This technology
  2. Drone capable of capturing other drones in flight
  3. Arrrr!
2. Re:Hmmmm by Longjmp · 2013-12-02 01:49 · Score: 2
  
  Best "profit" reply ever!
  
  --
  There are fewer illiterates than people who can't read.
3. Re:Hmmmm by BreakBad · 2013-12-02 01:57 · Score: 1
  
  Why not just have a drone to search for and pick up packages. It may serve some other purposes as well -- I just can't wait to see someone's cat being carried off.
4. Re:Hmmmm by gman003 · 2013-12-02 03:20 · Score: 2
  
  Because if your drone is stealing package-carrying drones instead of just packages, you can sell the drones back to Amazon to get even more profit!
5. Re:Hmmmm by TheP4st · 2013-12-02 03:41 · Score: 1
  
  I just can't wait to see someone's cat being carried off.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HnwhGgsgXc
  
  --
  "I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
6. Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:01 · Score: 1
  
  Because if your drone is stealing package-carrying drones instead of just packages, you can sell the drones back to Amazon to get even more profit!
  
  It's drones all the way up!
7. Re:Hmmmm by drakesword · 2013-12-02 06:15 · Score: 1
  
  I would like to see a catcopter carry a cat
8. Re:Hmmmm by luther349 · 2013-12-02 06:19 · Score: 2
  
  millions of drones hogging the airspace. im sure the faa will happily approve that.
9. Re:Hmmmm by ultranova · 2013-12-02 06:30 · Score: 2
  
  millions of drones hogging the airspace. im sure the faa will happily approve that.
  
  All it needs is delivery drones obeying "corridors" assigned by air traffick control, and enforcement drones hunting down those who don't.
  Besides, this could potentially help the airlines: fit the plane with a launch bay and drop the drone when the plane is passing above the customer's house. Afterwards, the drone will automatically find its way to the nearest airport, or better yet, a dronenet-participating logistics center, ready to be redeployed.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
10. Re:Hmmmm by ultranova · 2013-12-02 06:36 · Score: 1
  
  A solar-powered (and thus infinite distance) drone getting its (navigational) instructions via the Internet and running a Tor node?
  Well, that's one way to end the drug cartels for good... altough there could be some unintended side effects if anyone can control robotic minions on the other side of the world.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
11. Re:Hmmmm by g0bshiTe · 2013-12-02 07:07 · Score: 1
  
  People have tried solar rc already. It's way too inefficient a conversion to make it practical. So far the best I've seen merely added 5 minutes of flight time. I've yet to see an rc sized anything that can run indefinitely off solar.
  
  --
  I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
12. Re:Hmmmm by Holi · 2013-12-02 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  Yes with the 15 minute flight time that quad/octocopter's have with out a payload makes this a "winner" idea.
  Unless there are MAJOR advancements in battery tech this is a fantasy.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
13. Re:Hmmmm by Holi · 2013-12-02 07:16 · Score: 1
  
  Air ships.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
14. Re:Hmmmm by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2013-12-02 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  And more fairy stories about the police...
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
15. Re:Hmmmm by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2013-12-02 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  SKYNET
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
16. Re:Hmmmm by GameboyRMH · 2013-12-02 07:39 · Score: 1
  
  Hyperblimp:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VBTKEPAzvA
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
17. Re:Hmmmm by jrmcferren · 2013-12-02 07:39 · Score: 2
  
  Where does it say these are electric?
  
  --
  sudo mod me up
18. Re:Hmmmm by Radtastic · 2013-12-02 08:30 · Score: 1
  
  Solar might not achieve infinite continuous operation, but might allow for infinite distance with stops for recharging.
  Said RC device might fly for whatever distance the charge allows, then set down on a rooftop or unobtrusive location and start recharging for the next leg.
  Energy weight / density / rechargability may not be favorable today, but will certainly improve in the future.
  
  --
  You stereotypers are all the same...
19. Re:Hmmmm by ultranova · 2013-12-02 09:18 · Score: 1
  
  I've yet to see an rc sized anything that can run indefinitely off solar.
  
  You don't necessarily need to run the rotor constantly. Many birds can use rising thermal currents to glide indefinitely with minimal energy consumption, so why couldn't this thing? You'd only use the engines to take off, and then it's gliding time. Traditional RC devices are minituarized versions of large airplanes, which in turn have been designed to run of high-density fossil fuels and achieve high speed. A solar-based drone would likely be closer to a kite with turnable propellers on corners mostly used for takeoff, and actual control done by flexing the body to take advantage of the wind.
  And, like another poster said, nothing says the thing can't set down to recharge every now and then. It could even cross oceans if it floats.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
20. Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:21 · Score: 0
  
  it doesn't, but in one article i read it did say you had to be within 10 miles of a facility.
21. Re: Hmmmm by iamhassi · 2013-12-02 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  Who needs a drone? Just follow the big brown truck and pick up the packages they leave at front doors. I have no idea why more criminals don't do that, seems like the easiest way ever to steal stuff because it costs nothing, odds of getting caught are low, you're not confronting anyone and you can easily get iPads and other expensive stuff brand new in box to sell on ebay or craigslist. Compared to mugging someone or breaking into someone's house stealing packages looks easy and safe
  
  --
  my karma will be here long after I'm gone
22. Re: Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 12:07 · Score: 0
  
  Federal offense and most likely low margin of profit on random packages. Good luck!
23. Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-05 05:20 · Score: 0
  
  It seems like it would be a lot easier to hack a drone or steal it than just delivering it by hand.i think it is just going to be a way for people to talk about amazon more. it will also be annoying if they release the drones and all day you hear the motors everywhere you go.
24. Re:Hmmmm by TripleE78 · 2013-12-05 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  Replace "drone" with "nanotechnology" and you've got a Neal Stephenson novel.
  No, really, I think it was "Diamond Age".
Crime? by AmiMoJo · 2013-12-02 01:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

It seems like it would be a lot easier to steal from a drone than it would be to steal from a person delivering a package.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
1. Re:Crime? by Vanderhoth · 2013-12-02 01:22 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I had the same thought until I realized my wife's Xmas order was left on our front step last week by Canada Post. Normally they just leave a door hanger telling us where and when we can pick up the package.
  
  The drone would be a neat idea if I could have it drop the package in the backyard instead of out front. 30-60 minutes isn't really a bad amount of time to wait for a delivery, on par with Pizza. The major issue being you'd have to be near a deployment center, I imagine the only Amazon deployment centers in Canada are in Toronto and Ottawa.
2. Re:Crime? by ceoyoyo · 2013-12-02 01:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Or steal the drone....
3. Re:Crime? by DrXym · 2013-12-02 01:33 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Even better, you could steal the drone while you were at it.
4. Re:Crime? by N1AK · 2013-12-02 01:35 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  There have been documented cases of people following UPS etc vans and collecting the things they drop off on porches. Given that the person delivering the package can't magically get it inside the house unless it fits through the letterbox or I'm there their security isn't exactly amazing. A drone could drop the parcel in my rear garden without me having to leave my gate unlocked; furthermore it wouldn't be hard to have some kind of coded access box for them to use, or on a simpler level just deliver when they know I'm home so I can accept the item.
  
  I honestly think you'd see a decimation of manual delivery jobs in the UK within less than 2 years of drone style delivery being legalised and viably regulated. It'll be cheaper, faster and offer more convenient delivery times without huge fees; there's basically nothing that manual delivery offers to remotely make up for that.
5. Re:Crime? by Nerdfest · 2013-12-02 01:43 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Yeah, I had them leave two new Nexus phones sticking out of the box by the front door. They actually do it all the time, and even left a $1500 laptop sitting there. They, UPS, and others do it all the time. The good part is that I don't know anyone who's ever had something go missing. Yay Canada. I was reading something from someone from eastern Europe who came here about the things he found the most different about this country. Where he was from this was apparently unheard of , as anything left at your door would go missing. I'm guess that in some areas here it would be the same though.
  I think having something dropped off by drone would call a lot of attentiopn to it sa well, as for a devemt amount of time it would be quite the novelty.
6. Re:Crime? by dingen · 2013-12-02 01:44 · Score: 1
  
  If I were Amazon I'd mount camera's on the delivery drones and stream the images from them over the internet 24/7. If someone steals or damages the drone, you've got them on video.
  
  --
  Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
7. Re:Crime? by SJHillman · 2013-12-02 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  In order for this to be feasible on a large scale, you'd need cost effective drones. Cost effective drones would then be available to those same people already going around stealing packages... only now they can do it with a greater degree of access and anonymity. As the technology matures and becomes more acceptable to society at large, we'll probably see mandatory registration of drones that can fly to X height, have Y range or can carry Z payload with registration numbers required to be painted on them in big block letters.
8. Re:Crime? by Vanderhoth · 2013-12-02 01:51 · Score: 1
  
  The good part is that I don't know anyone who's ever had something go missing.
  That is an interesting point. My wife sells Regal products, although I don't think I'd understand why someone would want to steal that junk, in three years we've never had a monthly order stolen. I also have never known anyone who's had something taken from their doorstep.
9. Re:Crime? by pspahn · 2013-12-02 01:55 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  UPS once left an order under some shrubs in the front that I didn't notice until several months later and a replacement delivery sent. Ended up doubling the order for free (too bad it was just a pair of nice winter socks, though you can never have too many).
  
  --
  Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
10. Re:Crime? by ziggy_az · 2013-12-02 01:57 · Score: 1
  
  Video is only really helpful if you know who it is you are watching.
  
  --
  "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
11. Re:Crime? by JanneM · 2013-12-02 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  "it would be a lot easier to steal from a drone"
  Steal from a drone?
  First time around, order item (A):
  Next time around order item (B): http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Strike-Anywhere-Matches-1-Box/dp/B00DII0BA0/>
  Crouch in the bushes and use (A) to catch the drone. Then resell it on eBay. Use (B) to burn (A) to get rid of the evidence.
  
  --
  Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
12. Re:Crime? by JanneM · 2013-12-02 02:04 · Score: 1
  
  ..and for whatever reason, Slashdot refuses to show the first link. Just forget it.
  
  --
  Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
13. Re:Crime? by AmiMoJo · 2013-12-02 02:05 · Score: 1
  
  For a lot of people no signature = was never delivered. I think the postal staff get to know whose packages they can put in the kennel safely, and whose need genuine signatures.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
14. Re:Crime? by Salgak1 · 2013-12-02 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  Not necessarily "Yay Canada". I live far enough away from a major metropolis that we still leave doors unlocked, and have never had a package disappear. I think it's really more like "Yay Low Population Density". . . .
15. Re:Crime? by Vanderhoth · 2013-12-02 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  I agree, you can never have too many winter socks.
16. Re:Crime? by Jason+Levine · 2013-12-02 02:39 · Score: 1
  
  We've never had a UPS package stolen, but given the UPS drivers in our area, it's only a matter of time. The drivers, no matter how many times we complain, will put the package outside our front door and walk away. They don't ring the doorbell at all even when it's apparent that people are home. (Cars in the driveway, lights on, sounds coming from inside the house.) Luckily, we tend to track our packages and know approximately when they'll be delivered. Still, we've had packages that seemingly were outside for an hour or more before they were discovered. If the doorbell was rung, this would be minutes (if not seconds). Without the doorbell rung, someone could easily run up to our front door, grab the package, and drive off before we ever noticed.
  Interestingly, FedEx doesn't seem to have this problem by us. Just UPS.
  
  --
  My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
17. Re:Crime? by cdrudge · 2013-12-02 02:46 · Score: 1
  
  I think you're overestimating the intelligence and/or the amount of caring of postal workers. I'm including UPS/FedEx employees in with postal workers.
  I've had large and/or heavy enough packages that say "Amazon.com" on the side of them that a reasonable person would expect the contents to be worth something just left on my doorstep.
  I've also had a box with a big Dell logo left on my doorstep. It was just a replacement plastic lid for a laptop that was seriously scratched up during some warranty work. But the packaging was about the same size as most laptop packaging. It too just left on the doorstep in the middle of the day with no signature needed.
18. Re:Crime? by AmiMoJo · 2013-12-02 02:53 · Score: 1
  
  Given that the person delivering the package can't magically get it inside the house unless it fits through the letterbox or I'm there their security isn't exactly amazing.
  At least they can hide it though.
  
  A drone could drop the parcel in my rear garden without me having to leave my gate unlocked
  Where another drone could pick it up again...
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
19. Re: Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:53 · Score: 0
  
  Because this my drones have lasers
20. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:12 · Score: 0
  
  Obviously some delivered packages will always be stolen. The issue is the cost of preventing this crime versus the losses incurred. Right now the cost of say inside delivery perhaps with signatures required far exceeds the cost of losses. I'd like to see the numbers but I believe the losses due to stolen items is insignificant.
21. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:13 · Score: 0
  
  In the USA, UPS, Fedex and USPS leave packages at your door, so, why steal from the delivery man when you can just wait till he leaves at at the door and then steal it when nobody is looking?
22. Re:Crime? by mlts · 2013-12-02 03:15 · Score: 2
  
  Where I live (fairly urban townhome), I have never had a package dropped off at my doorstop survive more than five minutes. If a package is delivered, because of the high traffic of people walking past, said package will be "picked up", likely on its way to a pawn shop as its next destination. It is so bad that any mailbox made out of metal will get stolen for its scrap value, so one ends up using a door slot or a plastic holder.
  I just have packages delivered at a relative or friend's house, the friend lives 40 miles outside of Austin on an unpaved road. Takes a bit to drive there to get them, but a few dollars for gas is cheaper than completely losing the whole package's contents.
23. Re:Crime? by SuperTechnoNerd · 2013-12-02 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  I had the same thing happen with a computer mouse. The box sat under the bushes for 2 years, rain, snow, heat of summer, and I found it one day, and the dam thing worked fine!
24. Re:Crime? by N1AK · 2013-12-02 03:24 · Score: 1
  
  Where another drone could pick it up again...
  No shit sherlock. That would be a problem regardless of whether drones are being used to deliver packages. I'm sure some people would allow little things like, the rest of a post to guide their thinking but it's good to see you don't let that burden you; but for reference, if you had, the bit about drones being 'viably regulated' may have cramped your style a bit.
25. Re:Crime? by Stalks · 2013-12-02 03:39 · Score: 1
  
  I'm interested in what your idea was now!
26. Re:Crime? by gl4ss · 2013-12-02 03:42 · Score: 1
  
  drone could also take it.
  but those are least of the worries. just the legality of operating those drones would be the first. then the technical.
  the _idea_ isn't a novel one at all as such. proposed by many people and already used in controlled areas.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
27. Re:Crime? by grahamsz · 2013-12-02 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  I find dhl to be the most inconsistent.
  They left a $2k laptop on the doorstep
  But required a signature for a replacement battery from the same supplier for the same laptop
  They left $1500 in cash in a Travelex Currency Services envelope sitting in plain view
  The required a signature for a cellphone case.
28. Re:Crime? by TheLink · 2013-12-02 03:45 · Score: 2
  
  If we're going to have technology to improve delivery what would be good is a special receiving container/room.
  
  The container will receive packages and help automatically sign for stuff (e.g. generate a digital signature). It will not verify actual receipt of the desired goods anymore than you signing for it means you received desired stuff in good working order. But it would at least verify that something was delivered and prevent it from easily being stolen.
  --
  
  Too many replies beneath your current threshold
29. Re:Crime? by cayenne8 · 2013-12-02 03:45 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I had them leave two new Nexus phones sticking out of the box by the front door. They actually do it all the time, and even left a $1500 laptop sitting there. They, UPS, and others do it all the time. The good part is that I don't know anyone who's ever had something go missing. Yay Canada. I was reading something from someone from eastern Europe who came here about the things he found the most different about this country. Where he was from this was apparently unheard of , as anything left at your door would go missing. I'm guess that in some areas here it would be the same though.
  Depends on the neighborhood you live in....
  However, unfortunately, even that's changing now, as that what were once safe neighborhoods...the thugs have started figuring out where they are and are now starting to case places in the good areas, at least in some cities.
  The days of a "good side of town" and a "bad side of town" are changing in many areas, and not for the best.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
30. Re:Crime? by sifi · 2013-12-02 03:45 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Surely the whole point is you wait until you know you're going to in for 30mins and then order it? It wouldn't have to leave it anywhere then.
  
  --
  Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
31. Re:Crime? by cayenne8 · 2013-12-02 03:49 · Score: 1
  
  Where I live (fairly urban townhome), I have never had a package dropped off at my doorstop survive more than five minutes. If a package is delivered, because of the high traffic of people walking past, said package will be "picked up", likely on its way to a pawn shop as its next destination. It is so bad that any mailbox made out of metal will get stolen for its scrap value, so one ends up using a door slot or a plastic holder.
  Sounds like you need to move to a nicer area of town, or out of town a bit...?
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
32. Re:Crime? by jeffmflanagan · 2013-12-02 03:50 · Score: 1
  
  For me FedEx is a problem because they'll leave a sticker instead of the package even when someone is home. UPS always leaves it at the door. I've had hundreds of Amazon packages left at my door at apartments and a house. Not a single missing package. I don't think package theft is a problem unless you have thieves as neighbors.
33. Re:Crime? by MachineShedFred · 2013-12-02 03:52 · Score: 1
  
  My UPS guy thinks he's doing extra service by putting our doormat over the package, no matter what the size is.
  Yes, when I ordered new tube steel bumpers for my truck, he put the doormat over them. Because nothing conceals six feet of bent and welded DOM1020 steel like a 3 foot doormat.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
34. Re:Crime? by MachineShedFred · 2013-12-02 03:54 · Score: 1
  
  I often have stuff delivered to the mail room at my office, where they can sign for it and email me that I have something to pick up.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
35. Re:Crime? by ArcadeMan · 2013-12-02 04:00 · Score: 1
  
  Which brand/model?
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
36. Re:Crime? by SuperTechnoNerd · 2013-12-02 04:13 · Score: 1
  
  Microsoft Intellimouse. It was in a box then in bubble wrap, then in a sealed blister pack, so moisture had no way of getting in.
37. Re:Crime? by ArsenneLupin · 2013-12-02 04:13 · Score: 1
  
  At least they can hide it though.
  So well that even the rightful owner will only find it several months later...
38. Re:Crime? by LoRdTAW · 2013-12-02 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  Simple solution for drone thieves:
  The police will have a drone deliver you handcuffs, directions on how to cuff yourself and instructions to wait for a patrol car.
39. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:30 · Score: 0
  
  I've had something go missing. about $1500 worth of computer parts. After a delay or a week or so (I think to rule out the case of a neighbor got it by accident), I got a new shipment. I imagine that UPS had to refund newegg the value of the packages.
40. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  I live inside the DC beltway and have never had a package go missing from my doorstep. I think it's been about 15 years since I signed the little UPS form saying it was ok to leave stuff. Yay faith in humanity.
41. Re:Crime? by master_kaos · 2013-12-02 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  Yup, UPS, Purulator, Canada Post, all leave on my doorstep, never anything missing.
  Hell I once left for a weekend, came back garage door was open (forgot to close it) and nothing missing, even though 3k worth of tools clearly visible from the street.
42. Re:Crime? by Keyboard+Rage · 2013-12-02 04:40 · Score: 1
  It seems like it would be a lot easier to steal from a drone than it would be to steal from a person delivering a package.
  hmmm...
  my shopping list for this looks as follows:
  
  butterfly net
  mesh that is able to withstand quad-copter rotors, to replace mesh used in butterfly net
  extension handle for net to catch high-flying delivery drones
  rocket pack and high speed roller skates to match speed of drones
  protective suit
  heat-seeking missile launcher for use against security drones trying to catch me
  Felis domesticus gene splice kit to give me the nine lives of a cat...
  Anything I missed?
43. Re:Crime? by tlhIngan · 2013-12-02 04:50 · Score: 2
  
  I had the same thought until I realized my wife's Xmas order was left on our front step last week by Canada Post. Normally they just leave a door hanger telling us where and when we can pick up the package.
  
  Yeah, I had them leave two new Nexus phones sticking out of the box by the front door. They actually do it all the time, and even left a $1500 laptop sitting there. They, UPS, and others do it all the time. The good part is that I don't know anyone who's ever had something go missing. Yay Canada. I was reading something from someone from eastern Europe who came here about the things he found the most different about this country. Where he was from this was apparently unheard of , as anything left at your door would go missing. I'm guess that in some areas here it would be the same though.
  The old hangar service is still available, but the sender has to request it explicitly (parcel volumes are so high that if they still did hangar service, the system would be overflowing within a week as parcels awaiting pickup pile up).
  Usually it gets marked as "Do not safe drop" (i.e., do not leave package). Or signature service is requested. Otherwise it's treated like a piece of lettermail - left at your mailbox.
  For FedEx and UPS, the same applies as well - the sender has the option to request a signature service or not - the latter being slightly cheaper and why Amazon and others often use it (better to replace the odd item than spend the extra 10 cents on shipping as volumes are high enough that you still save money).
  It also cuts down on the customer service calls for people who complain about slow shipping because they don't make it out to the depot immediately.
  All these options are really only available to the large shippers - if you send a package through the mail, FedEx or UPS, unless you use first class parcel, the default shipping options include full tracking with signature or no safe drop.
  But ship enough and they let you have the option of just leaving it on the stoop - presumably if you ship enough that people aren't there to pick it up, FedEx/UPS etc., start to pile on the costs of repeated visits.
44. Re:Crime? by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 05:00 · Score: 1
  
  It'd be easy enough to jam, but really I doubt many common thieves would be able to rig up even the most basic 'hacked microwave guts' jammer. That puts it in the realm of semi-organised crime.
  900W of 2.4-2.5GHz from a bodged microwave should be enough to knock out wireless even in the lower frequencies used by cellphones. Wouldn't want to be standing near the business end when it's turned on.
45. Re:Crime? by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  Easier way:
  1. Kite.
46. Re:Crime? by Obfuscant · 2013-12-02 05:09 · Score: 1
  
  At least they can hide it though.
  So well that even the rightful owner will only find it several months later...
  One UPS package was hidden around the corner of the garage so I didn't see it for a week. Fortunately it was a rainy cold week. Unfortunately it was a shipment of red peppers from New Mexico, which were green fuzzy peppers when I found them. Thanks, UPS.
  The next time they did one better. They pried open my locked front screen door to hide a replacement pager I had been sent. Two months later I called the pager company, asked where the new pager was. They sent another. So a couple of days later I notice that my locked screen door is now standing 1/4" open. Oila! TWO pagers hidden in the same place. Thanks so much, UPS.
  I saw the 60 minutes piece. Amazing Amazon. The best comment by Bezos was that this will work best in urban areas close to distribution centers. Of course, urban apartment dwellers won't have anyplace for the drones to drop boxes, and the rate of theft will be the highest there. I don't think the plan has been thought out very well.
  Also, do they charge for the plastic boxes they deliver in, or do you have to leave them out for the neighborhood kids to steal/be picked back up?
47. Re:Crime? by Obfuscant · 2013-12-02 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  I also have never known anyone who's had something taken from their doorstep.
  I have never had anything stolen, but I also never deliberately have anything sent to my house.
  I have had a UPS package show up in my front yard, though. Stolen from a neighbor, left behind in my yard when the thief found out it was cheap junk.
48. Re:Crime? by omnichad · 2013-12-02 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  If it was small enough to fit under the doormat undetected, you'd just step on it and break it anyway.
49. Re:Crime? by Obfuscant · 2013-12-02 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  but those are least of the worries. just the legality of operating those drones would be the first. then the technical.
  There can be discussion about who the airspace belongs to and arguments that make government control of such airspace a good thing, but once that sucker lands on my property it's mine. There is no debate on who owns what then.
  Now get off my lawn you whippersnapper!
50. Re:Crime? by Vanderhoth · 2013-12-02 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  +1 informative. Good stuff to know.
51. Re:Crime? by Kenneth+Stephen · 2013-12-02 05:40 · Score: 1
  
  The major issue being you'd have to be near a deployment center, I imagine the only Amazon deployment centers in Canada are in Toronto and Ottawa.
  Initially that will be true. But its possible that as this develops, the drones could take off and deliver from the shipping container that is travelling down the highway. IOW, you would be having a mobile (mini) warehouse that gets close enough to whereever you are to have the drones complete the delivery over the last few miles. After delivery, the drones would return back to the new location of the truck, which has continued down the highway....
  
  --
  There is no such thing as luck. Luck is nothing but an absence of bad luck.
52. Re:Crime? by nospam007 · 2013-12-02 05:49 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "I also have never known anyone who's had something taken from their doorstep."
  Really?
  I just put all my waste and junk in a used paper box with some gift wrapping around at the front door and it disappears within minutes.
53. Re:Crime? by Shagg · 2013-12-02 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  You're assuming the drones won't be armed.
  
  --
  Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
54. Re:Crime? by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 06:28 · Score: 1
  
  I have never managed to successfully receive a package via DHL, having tried twice. The most recent time, I kept calling to redirect the package to a friend who would be home to receive it, but despite continually confirming the redirection, they kept trying to deliver it to me. They tried to deliver it to me, I'm not home because like most people I work during the day, I called to redirect, they confirm, the next day they tried to deliver it to me again, I called back to redirect, the next day they'd try to deliver it to me again, and so on.
  Eventually I gave up, and decided the simplest thing was to not buy from stores that don't let me select someone other than DHL. Which sucks, because some stores I like (like NewEgg) fall into this category. NewEgg Canada until a few months ago let you select the shipper (UPS, Purolator). Now they don't let you pick.
55. Re:Crime? by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  Most people in big cities live in highrise condo or apartment buildings. Amazon could provide a basket of some kind to the building to be placed on the roof for deliveries, using that as a target to drop packages into it. Residents could then retrieve their packages from the roof of their building (providing the roof of the building is accessible, like mine is). This isn't quite a private delivery, but at least it's restricted to people living in the building.
56. Re:Crime? by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 06:59 · Score: 1
  
  So, if an Amazon drone lands on your property for a few seconds to deliver a package to you, you now own the drone? I don't think so.
57. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:20 · Score: 0
  
  There can be discussion about who the airspace belongs to and arguments that make government control of such airspace a good thing, but once that sucker lands on my property it's mine. There is no debate on who owns what then.
  
  Either you're being facetious, or you have a losing legal battle with your pizza guy in your near future.
58. Re:Crime? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-02 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  I do the same for anything valuable. Also be sure to mention to the shipper that it is a business address as then they don't pay the dollar or so extra charge for residential delivery.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
59. Re:Crime? by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 07:21 · Score: 1
  
  And yet in WI, UPS wants me to sign for a $20 cocktail shaker during work hours...just leave the damn thing in between the doors!
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
60. Re:Crime? by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 07:37 · Score: 1
  
  You didn't open your front door for two months?
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
61. Re:Crime? by FrankSchwab · 2013-12-02 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  I occasionally go two months without opening my front door. I use my garage door as an ersatz front door.
  
  --
  And the worms ate into his brain.
62. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  Most people in big cities live in highrise condo or apartment buildings
  Above 10 stories or so, those buildings already have mail & parcel facilities to deal with the congestion. Above 25 stories, they have a dedicated truck run.
  Amazon Air isn't for shipping to big cities, it's for shipping to the suburban sprawl.
63. Re:Crime? by ottothecow · 2013-12-02 08:10 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I don't understand all of the people talking about theft. Isn't the point of this that the drones are available to deliver something you want right away, directly to you?
  The drones are about as fast as a pizza...do you routinely order a pizza and then leave the house to return hours later and wonder why your pizza is cold? No, this is for when you order something and want it immediately (otherwise you would be ok with a normal package). You place your order, they pack it, and the drone flies it over. You walk outside, say "Hey Drone!", grab the box, and walk back inside. I don't see why you would bother using the drone to deliver if you aren't going to be home for the next 5 hours...
  
  --
  Bottles.
64. Re:Crime? by WillAffleckUW · 2013-12-02 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  Best if you hack your neighbor and order it with his credit card.
  A wire guide will take down a drone fairly quickly.
  
  --
  -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
65. Re:Crime? by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  If you're expecting a package to be delivered, I would check all the doors. Granted, if it was locked, I can see why it may not have crossed your mind.
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
66. Re:Crime? by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  s/you/GP/g
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
67. Re:Crime? by rhodium_mir · 2013-12-02 08:21 · Score: 2
  
  Same as how a UPS driver walking on to my land instantly becomes my property/slave. Come on, that's just private property rights 101.
  
  --
  You can't spell "oneiromancy" without "roman".
68. Re:Crime? by cyberchondriac · 2013-12-02 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  I agree, you can never have too many winter socks.
  Is this Dumbledor?
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
69. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:26 · Score: 0
  
  When I was working in London at a large financial institution, I had my phone stolen (er, there was a pub involved) and replaced under insurance. The replacement was delivered to the front desk at work and supposedly signed for, but someone had sticky fingers and I never actually received it. The insurance company declined to replace it a second time, as it had been signed for!
70. Re:Crime? by Sardaukar86 · 2013-12-02 08:30 · Score: 1
  
  Initially that will be true. But its possible that as this develops, the drones could take off and deliver from the shipping container that is travelling down the highway.
  That's pretty darn clever. Although this drone business makes me a little uneasy, I'm fascinated by the novel uses for the things that are already springing up.
  What was that old Chinese curse again? May you live in interesting times.
  
  --
  ..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
71. Re:Crime? by shutdown+-p+now · 2013-12-02 08:42 · Score: 1
  
  I live in Seattle metro area, and have never had a package disappear from my doorstep - and I get a lot of them.
72. Re:Crime? by triffid_98 · 2013-12-02 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  However, unfortunately, even that's changing now, as that what were once safe neighborhoods...the thugs have started figuring out where they are and are now starting to case places in the good areas, at least in some cities.
  
  I've always wondered why this didn't happen ages ago. On the bad side of town the only people with money have guns and rottweilers. Why on earth would they try and rob people there when they can just commute to where people actually have things to steal. As an added bonus they're all off at work during the day, so it's win win.
73. Re:Crime? by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-02 08:55 · Score: 1
  
  Dumbledore
74. Re:Crime? by JanneM · 2013-12-02 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  It was just a link to a large fish landing net with a long handle. No idea why slashdot refuses that link when the other one to a box of matches was OK.
  
  --
  Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
75. Re:Crime? by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  I live in an 20-story highrise. There is zero mail or parcel facilities except for the standard "Canada Post employee has keys to building entrance and mailboxes". Nothing at all special is done for packages. And besides that, even a dedicated truck run is going to be at best next-day delivery, not 30 minutes.
76. Re:Crime? by Vanderhoth · 2013-12-02 11:06 · Score: 1
  
  If I could blow shit up with my wand I wouldn't be posting on /., I'd be out blowing shit up.
77. Re:Crime? by Zynder · 2013-12-02 11:50 · Score: 1
  
  Why limit yourself, good mage? With the powah of the intarwebz you can now surf /. from your smartphone while you blow shit up!
78. Re:Crime? by cayenne8 · 2013-12-02 14:46 · Score: 1
  
  I've always wondered why this didn't happen ages ago. On the bad side of town the only people with money have guns and rottweilers. Why on earth would they try and rob people there when they can just commute to where people actually have things to steal. As an added bonus they're all off at work during the day, so it's win win.
  Couldn't afford cars to travel to the good side of town to try to commit crimes as much in the good old days.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
79. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 15:59 · Score: 0
  
  And as luck would have it, a house a few doors down has their lawn sprayed with trash resembling your waste and junk.
  * I once had someone break a passenger window on my car and steal a bag of trash. Honest to God trash. As in it should have been obvious from the side of the car that the bag was trash. Like used Kleenex and candy bar wrappers type trash. What the fucking hell?
80. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 16:02 · Score: 0
  
  Oh shit, my new MacBook was shot down by my paranoid neighbor again. Fuck.
  Maybe if the drone were disguised as some sort of teabag...
81. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 16:14 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed. Were they nice socks?
82. Re:Crime? by pspahn · 2013-12-02 16:33 · Score: 1
  
  Well of course they were nice socks... I can buy crappy socks from the Kmart down the way and all the trendy "look at me I moved to Colorado and now I snowboard" shops sell the nice socks on a much higher margin than you find with online retailers.
  
  --
  Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
83. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 21:44 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, I had them leave two new Nexus phones sticking out of the box by the front door. They actually do it all the time, and even left a $1500 laptop sitting there. They, UPS, and others do it all the time. The good part is that I don't know anyone who's ever had something go missing. Yay Canada. I was reading something from someone from eastern Europe who came here about the things he found the most different about this country. Where he was from this was apparently unheard of , as anything left at your door would go missing. I'm guess that in some areas here it would be the same though.
  Depends on the neighborhood you live in....
  However, unfortunately, even that's changing now, as that what were once safe neighborhoods...the thugs have started figuring out where they are and are now starting to case places in the good areas, at least in some cities.
  The days of a "good side of town" and a "bad side of town" are changing in many areas, and not for the best.
  No, it's not. You're just turning into a frightened old man, and there's too much race-mixing going on in the neighborhoods. It's tough shit being a southern white minority bigot these days... At least you've got your midlife-crisis hot-rod to play with. Just like the good ol' days! Them lynchin' days, remember? ;)
84. Re:Crime? by cffrost · 2013-12-02 22:24 · Score: 1
  
  ..and for whatever reason, Slashdot refuses to show the first link. Just forget it.
  Well, your sig told me to "trust the Computer," and that "the Computer is [my] friend." Sorry to say, but it appears that the Computer isn't even your friend, despite your going out on a limb to vouch for it. After seeing how it treated you, I'm thinking "fuck the Computer; the Computer is a jerk."
  
  --
  Thank you, Edward Snowden.
  
  "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
85. Re:Crime? by cyberchondriac · 2013-12-03 06:30 · Score: 1
  
  D'oh!!!
  
  You know, I looked at that and looked at that, and thought something was wrong, but had a brain fart and thought, no, there's no "e" on the end.
  Spank me with a wet noodle, I'm an idiot.
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
86. Re:Crime? by cyberchondriac · 2013-12-03 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  If I could blow shit up with my wand I wouldn't be posting on /., I'd be out blowing shit up.
  I know what you mean.
  Confringo or Reducto? (Bombarda isn't canon but was in PoA movie)
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
87. Re:Crime? by publiclurker · 2013-12-03 08:33 · Score: 0
  
  And posting on YouTube.
88. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 11:00 · Score: 0
  
  Did knocking over that strawman make you feel like a big tough guy?
89. Re:Crime? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-06 07:32 · Score: 0
  
  yea i think that would call a lot of attention. Today, lot of people buy things from Amazon and they might mix up the things, or the robot might break when delivering the things by whether, animal, people, and accident
I predict... by Joce640k · 2013-12-02 01:12 · Score: 5, Insightful

This is just a free-publicity stunt, timed for Xmas to get the word "Amazon" on all the news channels.

--
No sig today...
1. Re:I predict... by Maury+Markowitz · 2013-12-02 03:00 · Score: 1
  
  +1 million
  Absolutely what this is.
2. Re:I predict... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:01 · Score: 1
  
  It has also been done before for the same reason
  http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/04/technology/innovation/dominos-pizza-drone/index.html
3. Re:I predict... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:48 · Score: 0
  
  And their timing couldn't have been worse.
  http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/4-arrested-trying-smuggle-contraband-jail-using-re/nb6Q5/
  Yes, criminals have already thought of this, implemented it, and gotten caught. Amazon is just late to the party.
4. Re:I predict... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:35 · Score: 0
  
  totally - i mean the insurance costs alone....
my guess is it's hype+leverage by Trepidity · 2013-12-02 01:12 · Score: 4, Interesting

It's possible Bezos really means it, but my guess is that two things are behind it:
1. Using the current drone hype to help position Amazon as exciting/technological/futuristic, rather than just a boring logistics company that owns warehouses and brown cardboard boxes. With Google working on self-driving cars, and Elon Musk proposing a hyperloop and working on a reusable rocket, Amazon might want to join the futurology game. Otherwise they risk being seen as a low-margin but very efficient (and high-volume) mass retailer, the online version of Wal-Mart.
2. Provide some leverage in negotiations with the delivery and courier companies they depend on by threatening to bypass them. Amazon may want at least a halfway credible alternative to companies like UPS/Fedex when negotiating rates, something to hang over their head as "if you piss us off enough, we're really going to do it, we're going to just deliver everything with drones".

--
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
1. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by alexander_686 · 2013-12-02 02:25 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I don’t think it is either of those.
  1. Might be right but it does not explain why Bezos is doing it now. Announcing a pie in the sky moon shot is not going to do anything about its perception today. It won’t move stock prices (or, if it does, it will be down) and it won’t change from whom I order today. Yeah, it will have a little halo effect, but not much.
  2. Amazon already has a choice between at least 3 different shippers fighting for their business. That a much more effective that a alternative delivery method which may pop up in 4 years’ time. More likely 10.
  I am going with a moon shot. A high risk, high reward kind of thing. Amazon has the cash to indulge in these types of activities. Plus we know Bezos likes robots. Amazon bought a pick and pack robot company about 2 years ago.
2. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:16 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe.
  However there from my pedestrian POV two companies out there actually doing real R&D that will affect their bottom line. Google and Amazon. The others seem to be doing pie in the sky sorts of things.
  Amazon has in effect overturned walmart and many large box b&m stores. Amazon has 1 big problem though. That is distribution of its goods. They are right now building their own courier system in some big cities. The biggest drag on distribution is people and traffic in big cities. Cut out either of those and you are helping your customer. If you help your customer they *will* buy from you. You do the opposite and they will look for others. For example cable companies. People would ditch them if there were more than 1-2 competitors who's service is about the same. Yet they are actively looking for alternatives.
  Amazon has also upended the e-book arena. Until they showed up there were dozens of the things. None of them were very good. Amazon is right now also upending the 'cloud' market.
  Also if you read the summary you would see this services ~85% of their footprint. They will still want that other 15%. You can have 1 guy control 10-20 drones. Instead of 1 guy sitting in a truck and ringing doorbells.
  Remember they also want the grocery market. Some of those goods are time sensitive.
  Sorry if I come off as a 'shill'. But what you are saying is silly. Amazon is basically a distribution company. I would expect them to be investigating better ways to distribute things... Much like I expect Google to be investigating how to find things.
3. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:41 · Score: 0
  
  Amazon might want to join the futurology game.
  Although it's actually owned by Jeff Bezos independently of Amazon, his Blue Origin reusable spacecraft company has been around for a while, but plays things very close to the vest.
  Maybe Bezos is developing it as a way to get shipments from overseas in a half-hour.
4. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:46 · Score: 0
  
  Amazon is all about the moon shots; it's just rare to announce something before it's actually ready. A short-term stock bump is never the ploy.
5. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:39 · Score: 1
  
  He's doing it now because 'tis the season to shop Amazon, and futuristic drones make a good commercial. With all the vehicle pollution in urban areas who's going to tolerate swarms of these fucking things buzzing all over - it wouldn't just be Amazon launching them.
6. Re:my guess is it's hype+leverage by physicsphairy · 2013-12-02 22:33 · Score: 1
  
  I think actually implementing this has more direct pay-off for Amazon than you're thinking. How many people are content to communicate by letter now that we have texting, email, and phone calls? Who is willing to use a 56k internet after living with broadband? The fact is that, while getting things in a few days is almost always reasonable, having 30 min deliveries available makes it feel unreasonable. No one is going to want to order things any other way if this becomes prevalent. Amazon is just taking their '2 day shipping' policy (which has been working out well for them) to the next level. Second, it greatly encourages impulse buying. It is that much more satisfying knowing you will receive something immediately. Third, it allows Amazon to compete more fully against brick-and-mortar stores. Up-till-now places like Walmart have been somewhat safe because they offer the ability to have purchased items in your hands immediately. Now the wait time is one less advantage for them. Fourth, and this plays off of the third, it opens up new opportunities for Amazon as a mediator between companies and customers. This is clearly of interest to them as they have already made amazon.com a place where you can buy goods from other companies (not just amazon wearhouses) and second hand from individuals (like ebay). Soon they will be able to realistically include listings for local restuarants, as their drone fleets pick up and deliver food items. Heck, they will probably work something out so that Walmart will pay them to deliver *their* goods directly to customers. In fact, you and I will be able to request drone pick up to deliver our mail and packages, either directly or by taking them to the Amazon shipping center to be ferried to other cities. Amazon isn't just cutting out the middleman of UPS and Fedex and USPS, they are positioning themselves to, at some indefinite point in the future, completely replace them.
  
  --
  When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
Oops, it fell. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:16 · Score: 1

At least they'll finally have a valid excuse for throwing your package on the ground.
Hacker's delight by greichert · 2013-12-02 01:20 · Score: 4, Interesting

How long till people start stealing the drones as they see one landing (by throwing a net on them for instance) and hack the firmware so they have their own drone?
1. Re:Hacker's delight by N1AK · 2013-12-02 01:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Roughly as long as it takes for people to start jacking UPS vans when the driver gets out to put the parcel on the porch... Any drone that is going to have permission to do this is going to have tracking and cameras. Some chumps will shoot them or break them but the risk and reward balance is pretty obviously not going to encourage much of it.
2. Re:Hacker's delight by Nerdfest · 2013-12-02 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  I think throwing people into the mix changes things. People act differenmtly when there are people around, even to the point that apparently a paper silhouette of a person will reduce thefts.
3. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:54 · Score: 0
  
  This is the best thing for drug cartels to do.
4. Re:Hacker's delight by Inda · 2013-12-02 02:29 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  The children near me destroy shopping trollies just for the one-pound coin held within the locking mechanism. That coin will buy 2.5 cigarettes.
  
  They'd love to take a hammer and screwdriver to a drone... and then I'd buy it off them.
  
  --
  This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
5. Re:Hacker's delight by CanHasDIY · 2013-12-02 02:35 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I think throwing people into the mix changes things. People act differenmtly when there are people around, even to the point that apparently a paper silhouette of a person will reduce thefts.
  You realize Home Alone was not a documentary, right?
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
6. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:00 · Score: 0
  
  'Big Brother' eyes encourage honesty, study shows
7. Re:Hacker's delight by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 03:11 · Score: 1
  
  Holy cow - one pound to lock up a shopping cart? In the US those carts typically require 25 cents.
  Oh, and they usually design them so that they don't contain coins at all when they're parked, probably because at one point in time they had the same issue.
8. Re:Hacker's delight by jo_ham · 2013-12-02 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Holy cow - one pound to lock up a shopping cart? In the US those carts typically require 25 cents.
  Oh, and they usually design them so that they don't contain coins at all when they're parked, probably because at one point in time they had the same issue.
  It's the opposite actually. The carts are all chained together with short lengths of chain that have a tab that engages with the mechanism. To free the end trolley in the line you insert a pound coin and that unlocks the mechanism like a seatbelt so you can use the cart. To get your pound back you need to put the card back in the stack and reconnect it to the one in front, which releases the coin.
  It's a mechanism to ensure you don't walk off with the cart, or leave it abandoned in the middle of the parking lot (people who do that should be executed on the spot, or at the very least kneecapped for a first offence).
  Of course, if you do walk off with the cart (or someone else's cart while they are browsing the shelves) you now have a pound stuck in it, which is hard to get out.
9. Re:Hacker's delight by chihowa · 2013-12-02 04:30 · Score: 1
  
  That does seem like a lot, but I imagine they've only stayed at 25c in the US because that's the largest value coin that's in wide enough circulation. If the $1 coin had caught on, they'd almost certainly be required by now.
  
  --
  If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
10. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:36 · Score: 0
  
  Holy cow - one pound to lock up a shopping cart? In the US those carts typically require 25 cents.
  In the US, typical shopping carts don't require any money at all. The only thing stopping someone from stealing one is very large parking lots and segregation between business districts and residential- and everyone knows how much we hate walking.
11. Re:Hacker's delight by luther349 · 2013-12-02 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  hide face net drone disable tracker. free drone.
12. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:58 · Score: 0
  
  Holy cow - one pound to lock up a shopping cart? In the US those carts typically require 25 cents.
  25c is the largest denomination coin a random person in the US would likely have. If dollar coins were more common, that would be the default.
13. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:29 · Score: 0
  
  I'm sure he does.
  There's a store in my area that actually has a cut-out of a uniformed officer in the window. Apparently it's just as effective as radio tags when the items are small, and a lot cheaper to maintain. The human mind is a strange thing indeed.
14. Re:Hacker's delight by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-02 07:34 · Score: 1
  
  Delivery trucks do get stolen from time to time.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
15. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:34 · Score: 0
  
  It's the other way around; you use a £1 coin to *unlock* the trolley (a deposit for use). You get the pound back when you return it to the bay.
  Of course, there's always a few people that can't be arsed to take it back and don't consider the coin worth enough to bother. Or that decide they're going to ignore the hi-vis warnings at the car park exits and try to take the trolley home with them (and then wonder why the wheels suddenly lock up).
  More organised folk use a keychain token that's sized to match a £1 coin instead of an actual coin. The locks can't tell the difference, and it saves having to keep change handy ahead of time.
16. Re:Hacker's delight by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-02 07:52 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Actually they do since most criminals are just looking for an easy target and are about as dumb as a brick (otherwise they would have real jobs). The U-Haul and self storage place I worked at had a life size cardboard cutout of the Maytag Repair Man up in the second floor windows of the place so it always looked like there was a security guard in there. The windows were facing the road and customers commented that it was nice that we had a security guard. I imagine that it fooled most stupid criminals as well.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
17. Re:Hacker's delight by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 07:54 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like we need to start working on those EM pulse guns then.
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
18. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  The rationale behind the 'one pound ransom' is to ensure that carts are properly returned, which ultimately is a result of high wages & business being unwilling to pay for that. This is the same reason that in first world countries, you pump your own gas, and numerous labour saving devices (such as robotic pickup arms on garbage trucks) are around.
  The opposite is true in a developing nation. In South Africa, it's illegal to operate a self-service gas station -- the law requires that a gas station operator employs people to pump gas. The consumer is not allowed to pump his own. And, while the law doesn't actually require it, 'pound ransom' shopping trolleys do not exist. Instead, people are employed specifically and only to retrieve shopping trolleys. Shoppers dump their trolleys anywhere close to their cars so long as they don't cause an obstruction; this is completely acceptable and normal.
  As always, everything is relative.
19. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:00 · Score: 0
  
  Holy cow - your shopping carts have locks? You have to pay to use them?
20. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:33 · Score: 0
  
  It's more like "hide face, net drone, futz around with drone trying to figure out how to disable tracker, get picked up by police because you're an idiot who tried to steal something that's constantly broadcasting its location while actively resisting your attempts to work on it, free jail cell".
21. Re:Hacker's delight by blacklint · 2013-12-02 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  Joining in the fun stories to support the claim, our local transit police used a cardboard officer to deter bike theft: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/08/14/cardboard-cop-prompts-real-drop-crime/twoZrFoyg1qrPQCVLtnF8K/story.html
22. Re:Hacker's delight by mjwx · 2013-12-02 14:09 · Score: 1
  
  That does seem like a lot, but I imagine they've only stayed at 25c in the US because that's the largest value coin that's in wide enough circulation. If the $1 coin had caught on, they'd almost certainly be required by now.
  This.
  
  Having travelled recently in the US, washing machines at coin-op laundries used 8 to 12 quarters. This seemed a bit silly to me as in Australia that's going to be a maximum of 3 coins (assuming that the machine doesn't accept $2 coins, which to be fair in Oz, a lot dont).
  
  But there's a lot wrong with the design of US money (most notably the $100 note is the same size, colour and texture as a $1 note).
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
23. Re:Hacker's delight by chihowa · 2013-12-02 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  To be fair, the paper currency issue was addressed ten years ago, it's just taking a little time to get the last few bits of old money out of circulation. I haven't seen an old bill in a while, though I don't deal with cash that often.
  The sizes are still the same, but the color issue has been fixed and there are other differences to help distinguish the different notes.
  
  --
  If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
24. Re:Hacker's delight by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 16:27 · Score: 1
  
  It's the opposite actually. The carts are all chained together with short lengths of chain that have a tab that engages with the mechanism. To free the end trolley in the line you insert a pound coin and that unlocks the mechanism like a seatbelt so you can use the cart. To get your pound back you need to put the card back in the stack and reconnect it to the one in front, which releases the coin.
  Yes, that's exactly how the ones over here work. So, what exactly are kids going after then? The ones chained up don't have any money in them - only ones that aren't chained up do. If you want to get the money out of one that isn't chained up you just need to park it. Seems like that would be a lot less hassle than trying to break the mechanism open.
25. Re:Hacker's delight by mjwx · 2013-12-02 16:38 · Score: 1
  
  To be fair, the paper currency issue was addressed ten years ago, it's just taking a little time to get the last few bits of old money out of circulation. I haven't seen an old bill in a while, though I don't deal with cash that often.
  The sizes are still the same, but the color issue has been fixed and there are other differences to help distinguish the different notes.
  It took 20 years for Australia to completely phase out old paper notes.
  
  But the big problem remains, the two most common notes in the US are the $1 and $20 in my experience, these still look very similar. Someone with bad eyesight (or drunk) will still have a bit of trouble. Even with good eyesight I still sorted my notes before I went out (singles folded in half, 20's in the back pocket, 5's and 10's in the front pocket).
  
  The Australian banknotes are a good example of how to make each note unique and instantly recognisable. At a glance I know how much cash I have on me.
  
  Dimes and nickels were another thing that annoyed me, but I ended up leaving them for the housekeeper or feeding them into a vending machine until I had enough for a drink.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
26. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 00:55 · Score: 0
  
  A parked trolley will have no cash in it. If it's abandoned because someone couldn't be bothered to take it back it will still have the cash in it.
27. Re:Hacker's delight by chihowa · 2013-12-03 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  The colors are bolder on the Australian bills and the different sizes are nice, but I likely wouldn't be able to count them as quickly as you can. I've never mixed up US money, either. Even when they were all green, I could instantly recognize and count the bills. Besides the vision impaired, I don't think any Americans ever really had problems with the green money.
  I think much of the issue you're describing is what everyone finds with foreign currency. Foreign money feeling alien and difficult to recognize and count quickly is so common that it's almost cliche. Every time I travel, I have to keep the bills carefully sorted and double check the printed number before I hand it over. The effect may be more exaggerated when visiting a place with more subtle bill differences, but it's not unheard of anywhere. Also, if you're trained to look for color and size differences, seeking out the numbers may require a more conscious effort.
  
  --
  If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
28. Re:Hacker's delight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 05:51 · Score: 0
  
  It actually works in the reverse of the way you might think. The shopping trollies used to get stolen, so it requires a £1 coin to undock them from the parking space; you get the coin back upon docking it again. Some vandals will steal a trolley, then break it to get their £1 coin back, then dump it in a river somewhere. I'm not entirely sure why; it's a generally unproductive use of everyone's time.
29. Re:Hacker's delight by Rich0 · 2013-12-03 15:24 · Score: 1
  
  Odd that I have 6 ACs saying the same thing, so I'll just reply to one at random...
  That's exactly how the carts work where I live. However, with that system there is no point in trying to vandalize carts to get the coin, so I figured they must use some other system where the original post was referring to.
  If the only thing you have to do in order to get the coin is to return the cart, then I'd think that kids would just return the cart. It would be faster, easier, legal, and actually doing the store a favor.
Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:21 · Score: 5, Insightful

This story nicely demonstrates how the modern media has no time (or desire) to think on their own.
This system is completely impractical. Anyone who has any idea on the capabilities of octocopters can immediately see that this idea is DOA.
- Range is abysmal. If you are not within walking distance of a distribution center, you are not in range of one of these. They could offer 10x better service for those within walking distance of their distribution hub by offering in-situ instant pickup if you are happy to walk to the center.
- Payload is non-existing - 0.5kg is quite a bit for an octocopter. Lets say they make a bigger "cargo" version and manage to quadruple that. 2kg. Too little for anything useful.
- Octocopters are good-weather toys. They cannot be flown in heavy winds. "Sorry, no deliveries today, it's too windy". Yeah. Right.
- The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled up to meaningful numbers - crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable, potentially hitting something and as a minimum causing an expensive tech toy wreck for Amazon. Often.
So this is purely a silly story to get Amazon into headlines right around "Cyber Monday" so buyers would remember that Amazon exists.
1. Re:Stupid media bait by Joce640k · 2013-12-02 01:30 · Score: 2
  
  What about delivering new 'copters to people?
  They've been selling quite a few quadcopters lately and this seems an ideal way to get them to people.
  
  --
  No sig today...
2. Re:Stupid media bait by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 01:33 · Score: 0
  
  I'd add:
  - Theft would become a trivial and risk-free activity.
  - 'Drone stoning' would become a new urban sport whenever they descend for landing.
  I can imagine drones having certain delivery niches, but this is not one of them. An aircraft rather than octocopter would be good for making long-range drops to inaccessible places - good in rural areas, isolated settlements, etc. Just fit the cargo with a parachute. And they'd be brilliant in disaster situations where roads are going to be impassible.
  Hypothetically, if it were to be made workable, here's how I'd do it:
  1. Customer obtains a 'marker' - a piece of paper with a symbol on it. If A4 they can print their own. If it needs to be larger, Amazon can send one via post ahead of time - one marker would do for many, many drone flights.
  2. Customer places the marker in a secure location (Back yard, roof if suitable).
  3. Drone GPSs to approximate location.
  4. Drone lands on marker via optical guidance.
  5. Drop cargo, take off, return.
  That solves the worst of the theft issues. The drone can fly most of the journey at a high enough altitude that it wouldn't be taken down by anything less than a rifle and skilled sniper, except for the final landing. Still got to deal with the pathetic range, pathetic cargo capacity and mechanical reliability, though.
3. Re:Stupid media bait by RevWaldo · 2013-12-02 01:37 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  It's a simple question of weight ratios. A one kilogram octocoptor could not carry a three kilogram PS4.
  
  .
  
  --
  Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
4. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:41 · Score: 0
  
  Why would someone risk going to prison to steal a few dollars worth of goods? They will probably have cameras on them...
5. Re:Stupid media bait by N1AK · 2013-12-02 01:42 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Just because you're self-opinionated enough to think you know something and yet unimaginative enough to not be able to think of anything weighing 2kg or less worth delivering by drone doesn't mean things don't exist.
  
  The last 10+ things I have ordered from Amazon or Ebay are all well below 2kg. The majority of things I buy from them are below 2kg: Books, CDs, DVDs, Games, tablet case, address book, aftershave, diary, USB-Micro USB cable, Radiator keys, plug converter etc. It turns out that bricks aren't the only thing you can order from online stores.
6. Re:Stupid media bait by Mr+D+from+63 · 2013-12-02 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  This method of delivery would be incredibly energy inefficient.
7. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:46 · Score: 1
  
  more than 70% of their current delivery weight is within the capabilities of the drone
8. Re:Stupid media bait by mjr167 · 2013-12-02 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  Cause it's harder to steal the package after the post man leaves it on my front porch all day than it is to steal it if a robot leaves it on the porch?
9. Re:Stupid media bait by wonkey_monkey · 2013-12-02 02:04 · Score: 2
  
  It's a simple question of weight ratios. A one kilogram octocoptor could not carry a three kilogram PS4.
  Why not?
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
10. Re:Stupid media bait by Drethon · 2013-12-02 02:12 · Score: 2
  
  Range isn't an issue. Amazon just has to rent power off of each cell tower in the city, then setup the quad copters to land on the tower for charging. Now the delivery can be handed off between drones, thus increasing the range.
  
  The cost for this delivery method should only be... outrageous.
11. Re:Stupid media bait by captainpanic · 2013-12-02 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  You say that as if nothing ever gets stolen from your local convenience store, which no doubt has cameras too? 99.99% of the people wouldn't touch the drone. And 0.01% of the people would make it their source of income.
  Here's how it goes: Bunch of people hanging at some streetcorner. They hear a buzzing sound indicating a drone that drops some goods. Up goes the hoodies and the scarf. They follow the sound, and possibly the mandatory lights that the drone has. As soon as it lands, they throw a blanket over it (making the camera useless), or they just ignore the camera altogether. Then they break the drone open with a bit of violence (it won't be difficult, since weight is a big issue for the drone), and they're off.
12. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:13 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Anyone who has any idea on the capabilities of octocopters can immediately see that this idea is DOA.
  That list would include you. You have no idea what you are talking about.
  There are regular payload FPV flights currently out to over 3 miles.
  There are heavy lift competitions with multicopters that can lift a human being. 2 kg is nothing even for a small copter.
  Good weather toys? Your comment on this proves you have no experience with multicopters. In fact multicopters handle wind better than any other small craft.
  Octocopters are relatively robust and can still fly with multiple motor losses (although with cargo would be a problem). The technology is rapidly advancing though. I have over 1000 flights on my quadcopter with no maintenance and not a single fault.
13. Re:Stupid media bait by FuzzNugget · 2013-12-02 02:18 · Score: 1
  
  So what you're saying is, it's a total flight of fancy.
14. Re:Stupid media bait by Stele · 2013-12-02 02:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It could grip it by the HDMI port.
15. Re:Stupid media bait by serviscope_minor · 2013-12-02 02:39 · Score: 1
  
  That list would include you. You have no idea what you are talking about. There are regular payload FPV flights currently out to over 3 miles.
  How is this the GP not knowing what he was talking about. He quite clearly stated walking distance as a requirement. 3 miles is perfectly well within walking distance.
  You could argue that most people won't walk 3 miles, but it kind of cuts both ways. The only places that a 3 mile range is going to be worth targeting is a high density city where the system could deliver to a lot of people. People in high density cities are used to walking quite a lot since cars are often impractical.
  There are heavy lift competitions with multicopters that can lift a human being. 2 kg is nothing even for a small copter.
  Yes yes, they're called "helicopters". Some can lift nearly 10 metric tonnes. They're also expensive, require astonishing amounts of maintainance and have a nasty habit of crashing on a regular basis.
  As you scale up miniture ones to full size, you will encounter all the same problems.
  In fact multicopters handle wind better than any other small craft.
  Good job bad weather only means "wind" instead of you know: rain. And wind substantially lowers the range.
  Also, imagine what it would be like at the wearhouse. A van can carry a lot of stuff. Imagine a vans worth of stuff being delivered by mimi helicopters of some sort in one hour. The air would be almost solid 'copter.
  Sure, I'd love to see that but it does not sound terribly practical.
  There's also the problem of landing to deliver the package. Automatically determing landing sites is a really difficult problem in the general outdoor, full of random crap world.
  The thing is given maintainance team, size and charging time range and payload you have to compete with vans and bike couriers for this to actually be a practical proposition.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
16. Re:Stupid media bait by MightyYar · 2013-12-02 02:40 · Score: 2
  
  Range is abysmal.
  They seem to claim 10 miles. I'm not sure how they will manage this, but maybe they are counting on continued improvements in battery technology.
  
  Payload is non-existing
  They claim the vast majority of their orders are under 5 lbs. (2.25 kg), and that this can haul that much payload.
  
  Octocopters are good-weather toys
  They don't address this at all, and it is a very good point.
  
  crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable
  This is true of standard delivery vehicles as well. However, these don't weigh several tons so who knows? They might even be safer and cheaper to insure.
  I expect this service would also be pretty expensive. People pay a lot of money for overnight service, it seems reasonable to expect them to pay even more for 30 minute service. This delivery system does not need to be cost-competitive with UPS ground or the Postal Service... it needs to be competitive with FedEx next day service.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
17. Re:Stupid media bait by u38cg · 2013-12-02 02:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  So drive a truck full of octocopters to an area, send them off, ten minutes later they're all back. And something like 80% of deliveries are 2kg. As for wind, obviously it's only useful in suitable climates. But I suspect you're overestimating the amount of wind you get in many majro urban areas.
  
  --
  [FUCK BETA]
18. Re:Stupid media bait by wonkey_monkey · 2013-12-02 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  I agree. Trebuchet development has been woefully stagnant for the past 500 years and this could be the killer app that'll give it the push it needs!
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
19. Re:Stupid media bait by wonkey_monkey · 2013-12-02 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  So drive a truck full of octocopters to an area, send them off, ten minutes later they're all back.
  You hope.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
20. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:56 · Score: 0
  
  Yes yes, they're called "helicopters". Some can lift nearly 10 metric tonnes. They're also expensive, require astonishing amounts of maintainance and have a nasty habit of crashing on a regular basis.
  No, I'm talking specifically about multicopters. MUCH less complexity, maintence, and cost than a helicopter. Search for the Turnigy multicopter heavy lift competition.
  
  Good job bad weather only means "wind" instead of you know: rain. And wind substantially lowers the range.
  Yet another person with no experience claiming stuff.
21. Re:Stupid media bait by rolfwind · 2013-12-02 02:59 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Bezos said in the new 60 minutes, it will handle payloads of 5lbs, enough for 86% of it's sold merchandise.
  Second, this system could be used in China sooner than here, and being tested by a large package delivery:
  http://qz.com/120654/china-could-become-the-first-country-to-legalize-parcel-delivery-by-drone/
  
  The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled up to meaningful numbers - crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable
  The thing has 8 rotors. It needs 4 maybe to fly with stability. It has redundancy out the ass.
  
  Octocopters are good-weather toys. They cannot be flown in heavy winds. "Sorry, no deliveries today, it's too windy". Yeah. Right.
  Well, I'm sure amazon will have a zip code system and weather tie-in to mark the where and when availability that shows are hides the "Delivery by Air" button. Since this will be purely a convenience feature with a corresponding fee, it's not a business breaker.
  But for me, this type of system would make much more sense in fastfood delivery systems.
  Who wouldn't pay a buck or two to have it delivered at the location marked by smart phone GPS, instead of fighting traffic and using up gas/time?
22. Re:Stupid media bait by Junta · 2013-12-02 03:00 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  There are regular payload FPV flights currently out to over 3 miles.
  I assume you meant 30 miles (and the record is currently just shy of 35 miles), 3 miles would be rather sad. That is 30 miles being in the ballpark of record setting RC FPV without payload.
  Amazon is suggesting a 10 mile range for their design currently.
  now to take the amazon of today and make a technology with a 10 mile range anything more than a 'gee-whiz' factor for urban areas would require a pretty dramatic change. When people think warehouse-level stock with insane coverage, they think 'wal-mart'. The nearest walmart to my parents house is 18 miles as the crow flies. One source claimed the average distance to a wal-mart from average house in US was 30 miles (which I think is a bit far but couldn't find quality data in short notice). Amazon would need a real-estate footprint on the order of 9 times as much as wal-mart to cover the market. Even assuming Amazon only has ambitions to service urban areas, they are still looking at a footprint roughly on the order of wal-mart. Amazon has been eating into brick and mortar in no small part due to having so low a footprint, not having to stock everything everywhere, and so on and so fourth. If Amazon gets some regulatory precedents set for this to happen, Wal-Mart can swoop in and implement it in pretty short order.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
23. Re:Stupid media bait by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 03:06 · Score: 1
  
  That's why I said back yard or roof. The thief can still break in, but if they are doing that there's plenty to steal already.
24. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:11 · Score: 0
  
  Bezos stated in the interview that they can carry 5lbs and that 85% of what amazon sells is under this weight
  I am a 'Merican so I have no idea what a kg is.
25. Re:Stupid media bait by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 03:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It's a simple question of weight ratios. A one kilogram octocoptor could not carry a three kilogram PS4.
  Depends on whether the PS4 is region-coded to Europe or Africa.
26. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:18 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  He is full of crap...
  Empty take off weight of airbus a380:
  276,800 kg (610,200 lb)
  But it can fly more than 2x its weight...
  575,000 kg (1,268,000 lb)
27. Re:Stupid media bait by mlts · 2013-12-02 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  I know a few people who have done AP/LP (asset prevention/loss prevention) work. They get people in all the time who will risk their future [1] on trying to boost items worth less than a C-note. Not "poor" people either, but often people who feel they don't have to stoop to the low of having to pay for something.
  I have a feeling that if they have cameras on them, it will get pictures of some people with hoodies on, little else. Just like virtually any other CCTV photos used after a burglary.
  [1]: Cue remarks about arrest records being used for job screenings instead of conviction records, NCIC databases, yadda, yadda. In any case, a ride downtown can be a career ender.
28. Re:Stupid media bait by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 03:23 · Score: 1
  
  Good job bad weather only means "wind" instead of you know: rain. And wind substantially lowers the range.
  The weather resistance depends on how beefy the thing is - if you're flying below freezing through precipitation or clouds/mist then ice becomes a big problem too.
  I don't think that wind should affect range much, unless these things rely on being able to refuel before the return leg (which seems unlikely). A head/tailwind would not affect range at all since it would benefit the aircraft as much as it costs it. A crosswind would reduce range, but if you had your warehouses arranged suitably you might be able to avoid too many crosswind trips. Plus these things probably wouldn't fly very high, so that will tend to reduce the impact of wind.
29. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:29 · Score: 0
  
  Are you trying to tell me that Playstations are migratory?
30. Re:Stupid media bait by N1AK · 2013-12-02 03:34 · Score: 1
  
  Even though your post was as informative as a typical AC griper I'll give you the short version on the rest as you appear to be too narrow minded to do it yourself.
  
  A delivery range of 10-15km would be plenty for most non-rural areas. It would be far more convenient for me to have the package turn up at my door than have to go and get it.
  
  Octocopter isn't cutting edge today and won't near cutting edge in 4-5 years. It's not exactly unlikely that handling in moderate winds will be something that improves.
  
  The last one is most stupid of all. Vans crash, parcels get damaged in transit, drivers pick the wrong address and the list goes on. If a drone replaced the equivalent of 8 man hours and driving hours a day then Amazon won't give a fuck if they lost them on average every month because the saving would be huge. I don't care if the first drone delivering my dvd blows up in mid-air as long as the 2nd one bringing the replacement is fast. Even more stupid is the ignorance of progress needed to be unable to imagine the idea that 5 years of research and development isn't going to lead to monumental improvements in this area.
31. Re:Stupid media bait by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-12-02 03:46 · Score: 1
  
  This story nicely demonstrates how the modern media has no time (or desire) to think on their own.
  This system is completely impractical. Anyone who has any idea on the capabilities of octocopters can immediately see that this idea is DOA.
  - Range is abysmal. If you are not within walking distance of a distribution center, you are not in range of one of these. They could offer 10x better service for those within walking distance of their distribution hub by offering in-situ instant pickup if you are happy to walk to the center.
  - Payload is non-existing - 0.5kg is quite a bit for an octocopter. Lets say they make a bigger "cargo" version and manage to quadruple that. 2kg. Too little for anything useful.
  - Octocopters are good-weather toys. They cannot be flown in heavy winds. "Sorry, no deliveries today, it's too windy". Yeah. Right.
  - The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled up to meaningful numbers - crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable, potentially hitting something and as a minimum causing an expensive tech toy wreck for Amazon. Often.
  So this is purely a silly story to get Amazon into headlines right around "Cyber Monday" so buyers would remember that Amazon exists.
  "Mr. Nimziki, you're fired."
  
  --
  (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
32. Re:Stupid media bait by u38cg · 2013-12-02 03:49 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah. I for one would be all in favour of capturing one of these beasties.
  
  --
  [FUCK BETA]
33. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  Remember, this will likely be industrial strength drones. The details they mentioned were something like a 10 mile range and a package weight of around 5 pounds (which is 90% of their inventory). These drones are not hobbyist versions - they will cost many thousands of dollars and will have both cameras and and GPS systems. Stealing an Amazon drone will likely net you with grand larceny and they'll know where and when you did it - as well as possibly have a picture of you in the act. Stealing them will be a short-lived affair likely not worth the risk.
  It will also cost money - above and beyond 1 day shipping. The question is really of need - how often do you *need* something within an hour that you cannot find nearby in a store? I could see this deployed around major cities, but I doubt most of suburbia will ever experience this as the 10 mile circle around deployment centers will leave a lot of empty space.
34. Re: Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:14 · Score: 0
  
  Laden, or unladen?
35. Re:Stupid media bait by ArsenneLupin · 2013-12-02 04:24 · Score: 1
  
  As soon as it lands, they throw a blanket over it (making the camera useless), or they just ignore the camera altogether. Then they break the drone open with a bit of violence (it won't be difficult, since weight is a big issue for the drone), and they're off.
  If it lands, it's at the point where it's going to deliver the package anyways. So why bother with blankets and breaking it open, rather than just wait 30 seconds for it to "voluntarily" drop its package? Unless the point is to steal the drone itself, rather than its cargo...
36. Re:Stupid media bait by serviscope_minor · 2013-12-02 04:37 · Score: 1
  
  Search for the Turnigy multicopter heavy lift competition
  You have a substantially different definition of "heavy lift" than I do. 2.2kg is not very heavy.
  Yet another person with no experience claiming stuff.
  Except that (a) I do have experience and (b) physics is not in your favour. Multicopters fly forwards by tilting forwards, so some proportion of the thrust goes down and some horizontally.
  The more they tilt, the less goes down. At some amount of tilt they thrust is equal to the weight and the helicopter will stay level at full power. This is the maximim air speed. The maximum air speed is therefore limited.
  If it is flying into a headwind near the maximum speed it will spend all its thrust staying level and very little moving forwards relative to the ground. Hence the range wil be very low. In fact as the wind speed approaches the maximum air speed, the range drops to zero.
  You can do the math for various configurations including side winds etc and see that the drag from wind exists.
  It is not news that wind creates drag and drag lowers range.
  And as for rain, sure you can build a quadcopter that can fly in rain. But it will need weatherproofing which will weigh something and detract from the range and payload.
  It is really quite astonishing that you claim that weather does not affect range. I suspect you have no experience with aerial vehicles of any sort (model or full sized).
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
37. Re:Stupid media bait by RivenAleem · 2013-12-02 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  Is that an African or European octocoptor?
38. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:56 · Score: 0
  
  I'm interested in how this looks in Manhattan. Do the delivery drones have lanes? They have to, right? There would be swarms of them.
  FAA is dealing with probably its greatest challenge to date in regulating this development.
39. Re:Stupid media bait by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  A parcel-switched network?
40. Re:Stupid media bait by gsslay · 2013-12-02 05:11 · Score: 1
  
  And how is this drone going to ring my doorbell? Fail to stuff the package through the letterbox? Hide it under the bush at the side of the house? Write a description of where it is on a card?
  If they can barely get a human delivery driver to manage this, how is a drone going to do it?
  What if I don't have a suitable landing site at my address? How is it going to verify that I am the package recipient? How is it going to stop someone stealing the package, and it?
  The only way it would work is if people start making special provision for "the Amazon drone" at their address. A pre-registered landing site, a guaranteed secure drop point, clear of all possible obstruction. They don't do that presently, so what's going to make them do it for a drone?
41. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:31 · Score: 0
  
  It's not a matter of where he grips it!
42. Re:Stupid media bait by Drethon · 2013-12-02 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  Get enough packages moving at the same time and you could actually watch the network operate...
43. Re:Stupid media bait by Anarchduke · 2013-12-02 05:41 · Score: 1
  
  What if it was an African Octocopter?
  
  --
  who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
44. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:47 · Score: 0
  
  Depends. Is that a European octocopter or an African optocopter?
45. Re:Stupid media bait by DahGhostfacedFiddlah · 2013-12-02 06:22 · Score: 2
  
  Coverage a problem? 3 words: Mothership Warehouse Zeppelins.
  
  --
  Last post!
46. Re:Stupid media bait by luther349 · 2013-12-02 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  3g single goes down truckload of octocopters fall out of the ski.
47. Re:Stupid media bait by luther349 · 2013-12-02 06:28 · Score: 1
  
  expect there range would suck and if they used 3g well we all know how stable that can be.they would lose more of these due to the network crashing then anything. or where i live tons of deadzones and sudden windstorms.
48. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:30 · Score: 0
  
  If it's being delivered within 30 minutes, presumably you're still at your house when it gets dropped off. Otherwise why did you just pay for 30 minute delivery?
49. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:44 · Score: 0
  
  Plus there's the fact that given the short timeframe, there's a good chance of getting caught by the person who ordered the delivery, since they're probably keeping an eye out for the drone. That alone kills any argument that "mugging" drones would be a low-risk activity.
50. Re:Stupid media bait by markana · 2013-12-02 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  What if there were TWO octocopters, carrying the PS4 on an HDMI cable between them?
  And what exactly is the airspeed velocity of an unladen octocopter?
  Aren't PS4s migratory anyways?
51. Re:Stupid media bait by number17 · 2013-12-02 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  Second, this system could be used in China sooner than here, and being tested by a large package delivery
  Legalizing it doesn't make it practical. You obviously haven't been to China to realize that delivering to a Condo tower doesn't work and leaving a package out front would be stolen in a matter of seconds.
  http://freakonomics.com/2013/02/12/whats-the-real-crime-rate-in-china/
52. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:53 · Score: 0
  
  (different AC here)
  
  You have a substantially different definition of "heavy lift" than I do. 2.2kg is not very heavy.
  It's heavy enough. 2.2 kg is a little under five pounds, which according to Bezos is more than most Amazon packages weigh.
53. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:58 · Score: 0
  
  Quit thinking small and limiting yourself to today's version of the technology.
  
  Range is abysmal
  unless a truck (like an Amazon Fresh van) is the launchpad for a neighborhood's worth of drone deliveries, or if there's a mini distribution center with the most common products for a high population density area, or if they can otherwise improve the range (better battery, gasoline, liquid propane, solar, lighter materials, better aerodynamic lift).
  
  Payload is non-existing
  yet enough for 85% of the items ordered.
  
  Octocopters are good-weather toys
  ... so far.
  
  The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled
  ... yet.
54. Re:Stupid media bait by Dragonslicer · 2013-12-02 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  A parcel-switched network?
  I guess IPOAC was just a few years ahead of it's time.
55. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:17 · Score: 0
  
  In this case I don't think looking at the average distance from a home to Walmart. That includes people who live in places like the rural West, where the town of 200 people each lives 100 miles or more away from the nearest Walmart. That's quite a bit of bias in the number.
  It would be more appropriate to look at what would be required of Amazon to cover a certain percentage of the population, or possibly to look at how many people/what percent already lives within this range of a distribution center.
  Thirdly, you could limit your population pool by people who can currently get a certain level of service from Fed Ex or UPS. I'm not 100% sure, but I think a lot of rural areas are basically limited to slow service from USPS.
56. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:01 · Score: 0
  
  Two octocoptors could carry it together...
57. Re:Stupid media bait by SleazyRidr · 2013-12-02 08:13 · Score: 1
  
  It might not be able to delivery the PS4, but it'd have a much easier time delivering the games.
  
  --
  Is 1563649 a prime number?
58. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:37 · Score: 0
  
  Right, because they're definitely going to include "if( !(navigation.signalFound()){ drone.shutdownAllSystems(); }" in the navigation code.
  Moron.
59. Re:Stupid media bait by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 09:57 · Score: 1
  
  It'd be very visual. Congestion would appear as a flock of drones circling and waiting for a spot on the charging tower.
  And packet loss would need a hard hat.
60. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 10:34 · Score: 0
  
  It's a simple question of weight ratios. A one kilogram octocoptor could not carry a three kilogram PS4.
  Depends on whether the PS4 is region-coded to Europe or Africa.
  
  It's a simple question of weight ratios. A one kilogram octocoptor could not carry a three kilogram PS4.
  Depends on whether the PS4 is region-coded to Europe or Africa.
  no
61. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 10:41 · Score: 0
  
  stupid
62. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 10:46 · Score: 0
  
  5 years of research means huge progress? you should have worked on the last software project I worked on. It is still overtime and overbudget.
63. Re:Stupid media bait by adolf · 2013-12-02 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  This delivery system does not need to be cost-competitive with UPS ground or the Postal Service... it needs to be competitive with FedEx next day service.
  It competes with none of these.
  In the fanciful future wherein Amazon has a warehouse within 10 miles of actual people, the octocopter competes with a courier, or a local delivery driver.
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
64. Re:Stupid media bait by MightyYar · 2013-12-02 11:26 · Score: 1
  
  Fair enough. That is still a rather expensive option compared to standard delivery. Bike delivery in Manhattan runs around $10 for a 10 block radius, with an extra buck and a half for each 10 blocks. I don't think they guarantee 30 minutes, but if you pay $40 + $5 for each 10 blocks they will deliver it immediately.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
65. Re:Stupid media bait by EvilSS · 2013-12-02 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  Why would it need a data connection once it took off (other than to phone home to let Amazon know where it was)? All it needs is a robust GPS antenna. The trip would be pre-loaded before it left the warehouse.
  
  As for range, TFA says 10 miles out from the warehouse.
  
  --
  I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
66. Re:Stupid media bait by adolf · 2013-12-02 13:12 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I thought about bike couriers before I wrote that. Their range is limited (it doesn't have to be -- ten miles is do-able -- but it becomes a logistic problem to do it profitably), and it only works in the densest of cities.
  For that to work in Manhattan, they'd have to also have a warehouse in Manhattan. And then rent would ridiculous. :)
  I'm thinking that octocopter delivery would be better for Columbus, Ohio, than Manhattan: Dense enough to be profitable, and just sprawling enough that folks might actually have a front yard to call their own for a drop-zone.
  If it were available, I'd use it on job sites where I find myself screwed (I once drove 4 hours total to fetch a singular hand-tool that I neglected to bring with me, but which I couldn't get from local bricks-and-mortar), or when I need a handful of cat5 jacks, or a POE injector, or.....
  (As an aside, I'm amused that it is only $10 for 10 blocks: Do you mean to say that I can call a hardware store, put some goods on my account and arrange to have them delivered by bike courier at the rate you specify? Or takeout food? It sounds ridiculously cheap for a place as expensive as Manhattan. I assume tips are expected.)
  Looking further out, I'd be happy with later-in-the-day deliveries, too: I can imagine placing an order, having it put onto a truck or a van, and having it driven to within 10 miles of my house sometime in the next few hours (along with lots of other orders).
  That actually might be a good way to do it: Once the truck launches a swam of octocopters, the driver can just continue down the highway for the next launch, and wait for the others to come back. (That math, unlike bike couriers @ 10 mile radius, is easy to sort: There's far less human aspect to it.)
  Or, if the 'copters are cheap enough, they could be loaded and launched from the truck, and the truck can carry on. The octocopters could then deliver their package and seek shelter (and charging) at a designated place, and intercept the truck the next time it is parked within range for the return trip.
  Or, not even bother with the return trip: Just have the copters swap the truck when it is in range, and await loading. And then return to their designated shelter for the next round after the delivery is done.
  Or even heavy-lifters moving more than one package at a time from the truck to the shelter, whereupon the swarm of local delivery octocopters delivers the packages. (This saves driver time.)
  That all said and reconsidered: Maybe it could work in Manhattan. Or even small-town Ohio (if said small town is close to a major highway). Rooftop space and electricity are universally pretty cheap almost anywhere, for this amount of space and electricity.
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
67. Re:Stupid media bait by gmhowell · 2013-12-02 13:16 · Score: 2
  
  An African or a European octocopter?
  
  --
  Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
68. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 15:14 · Score: 0
  
  The CEO even said that the 5 lbs weight limit would accommodate ~87% of Amazon deliveries and that they would only use it for deliveries within 10 miles of a distribution center. It doesn't matter that the copters cannot fly very far and cannot carry >2kg packages...
69. Re:Stupid media bait by MightyYar · 2013-12-02 16:13 · Score: 1
  
  (As an aside, I'm amused that it is only $10 for 10 blocks: Do you mean to say that I can call a hardware store, put some goods on my account and arrange to have them delivered by bike courier at the rate you specify? Or takeout food? It sounds ridiculously cheap for a place as expensive as Manhattan. I assume tips are expected.)
  A lot of take-out does free delivery with guys on bikes in Manhattan. I definitely used to tip them well... they earn it. You can "rent" a bike messenger from the company for a flat $30/hour, so figure they pay them considerably less than that. Those guys are crazy to watch. The take-out guys just plod along, but the couriers dart all over the place.
  
  That all said and reconsidered: Maybe it could work in Manhattan. Or even small-town Ohio (if said small town is close to a major highway). Rooftop space and electricity are universally pretty cheap almost anywhere, for this amount of space and electricity.
  People on here are probably right - it probably is mostly a publicity stunt. But it is not so crazy that you don't sit there and puzzle over the numbers a little. :)
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
70. Re:Stupid media bait by Holi · 2013-12-02 16:22 · Score: 1
  
  400 feet, That is their legal ceiling. unless, of course, the FAA decides that commerce is more important then safety.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
71. Re:Stupid media bait by Holi · 2013-12-02 16:24 · Score: 1
  
  if it's line of site then what is the purpose, it could only deliver to a handful of people.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
72. Re:Stupid media bait by Holi · 2013-12-02 16:27 · Score: 1
  
  It is a completely different kind of aircraft, forward flight is quite a bit more efficient then how a quadcopter flies.
  but it is not hard to design something that can carry more then it's own weight, until you decide to account for the batteries to make it go any distance. Batteries are heavy.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
73. Re:Stupid media bait by adolf · 2013-12-02 16:38 · Score: 1
  
  Naw, I don't think it is a publicity stunt (well, sort of it is: the timing is very suspect).
  But honestly, the tech for quadcopters and such as been approaching finished for awhile now. And it seems clear that the FAA must adopt rules for commercial use of "drones" within the not-so-distant future.
  So 5 years actually sounds conservative, IF they have an inexpensive method for getting the goods close enough to the recipient that they can do their thing on demand.
  And: When in Manhattan, if I want my sandwich to be HOT, no expense spared, I guess I better order it by bike courier instead of the shop's free delivery. Right?
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
74. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 20:47 · Score: 0
  
  Range is abysmal. If you are not within walking distance of a distribution center, you are not in range of one of these.
  Yes, and no. What if the main distribution unit is a big truck and the octocopters just fly in and out of this. Then you remove the main time stoppper, 1. which is park the truck 2. find the object, 3. drop it at the door step.
  Instead the truck just rolls on and the octocoopter fly in and out like good little bees.
  Capow!
75. Re:Stupid media bait by N1AK · 2013-12-02 21:55 · Score: 1
  
  I know the feeling ;) that said, a sector like drones is already rapidly advancing. Just look at the drone tech from 5 years ago vs the kind of things available now. You can buy something to play about with for fun that couldn't have been built at any cost less than a decade ago.
76. Re:Stupid media bait by gsslay · 2013-12-03 00:13 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't. You've got the wrong address. Or I am someone who had it delivered to the wrong address on purpose, so I can steal it.
77. Re:Stupid media bait by MightyYar · 2013-12-03 00:45 · Score: 1
  
  I guess I better order it by bike courier instead of the shop's free delivery. Right?
  I couldn't stand paying $30 (!!!) for a pizza only to have it show up lukewarm. I used to go get it myself :) I used delivery for sushi, Indian, and Malay food, which weren't so time sensitive. Most of the time we wanted to get the heck out of the tiny apartment...
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
78. Re:Stupid media bait by Alioth · 2013-12-03 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that it's impractical in the forseeable future (battery technology will need significant improvements - no one will tolerate a gas-powered version because it'll sound like a flying chainsaw; sense-and-avoid will have to improve very significantly to avoid collisions with birds, powerlines, people etc, failsafes will have to be better than "just shut the motors down" because that could drop the drone on a person or a moving vehicle and cause injury and/or damage. These are all hard problems that won't likely get fixed in the timeframe Bezos quotes. So I agree it's just a publicity stunt.
  However, n-copters (n>=1) are not necessarily good-weather toys only. Even fixed-pitch types like the AR drone can withstand pretty gusty winds outdoors. You can also make a small something-copter VERY good in very gusty winds if it has collective pitch control on its rotors. Collective pitch rotor systems can react extremely fast. I have a number of RC helicopters, and even my tiny T-Rex 250 could be flown in 20 mph gusting winds because it was collective pitch (a fixed pitch heli would be lost with that much wind). I've flown my T-Rex 600 quite happily in gusty winds over 30 mph - I had to give up not because the heli was hard to fly, but the wind was blowing water out the tear ducts of my eyes and making the helicopter too hard to see.
  The main problem with a drone (of any number of rotors) would have that was sufficiently powerful to lift a 5 lb package AND deal with potentially strong gusting winds is that it'll also be very powerful too. A blade collision with a person would likely lead to a pretty serious injury; the Amazon drone would need to be at least as powerful as a T-Rex 600, and model helicopters of this power have already resulted in deaths.
  
  --
  Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
79. Re:Stupid media bait by Alioth · 2013-12-03 01:21 · Score: 1
  
  If you can only target high density areas of cities, you're already screwed, because for the forseeable future an octocopter isn't going to be able to deliver to a multi-occupancy building. It would need outdoor infrastructure (a multi item mailbox outdoors with a landing pad, in areas where all the space is already used up) since for many multi occupancy buildings you have to go inside the building just to deliver the mail. Without a lot of additional infrastructure (who's going to pay for it? Amazon?) drone delivery is only going to work where it's least suited - low density suburbs or rural areas which will likely be a long distance from the distribution centres.
  
  --
  Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
80. Re:Stupid media bait by Alioth · 2013-12-03 01:30 · Score: 1
  
  Weather does affect range (wind always reduces it, unless you get a tailwind in both directions). The maximum airspeed of anything that flies has a limit. However rotor powered aircraft don't work as simply as you suggest. Once they exceed a certain speed (which is quite a low speed) they gain translational lift, and don't need to 'tilt' nearly as much as you would expect. My model T-Rex 500 model helicopter will do about 60 mph with very little visible forward tilt. A T-Rex 700 with an aerodynamic body will do about 80 mph without much of a problem. The limit to this helicopter's airspeed is not how much it must tilt, but retreating blade stall, when the angle of attack of the retreating blade must be so high that it exceeds its critical angle of attack. In a single rotor helicopter, the onset of retreating blade stall means that the half of the rotor disc which is retreating makes less lift than the half of the rotor disc where the blades are advancing (in most helicopters, this causes them to pitch up due to gyroscopic precession, so unless the pilot aggravates the condition by pushing the cyclic further forward, it becomes kind of self-correcting). If it goes too far and the retreating blade actually stalls the helicopter will start to roll and depart from controlled flight. With a multicopter you won't get the departure from controlled flight but you will have a severe loss of lift. This happens way WAY before the tilt angle gets great enough to significantly affect lift just due to pure thrust vector issues.
  
  --
  Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
81. Re:Stupid media bait by rolfwind · 2013-12-03 02:29 · Score: 1
  
  What's to prevent the company from texting someone several minutes before it arrives and requiring the customer to have a smartphone app to mark exact gps location and sign off on dropoff?
  If the copter can't make delivery because conditions aren't satisfied, it can go back and the company can keep it's convenience fee.
82. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 04:17 · Score: 0
  
  I'm assuming you're reference is a battery powered unit. We have things called a gas engine.
83. Re:Stupid media bait by Drethon · 2013-12-03 05:44 · Score: 1
  
  IPODC (IP Over Drone Carriers)?
84. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 08:19 · Score: 0
  
  I agree with you what if there is really heavy rain how will they deliver or what if it gets lost they will have to replace it not us so they will waste more money.
85. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 11:18 · Score: 0
  
  So what? You could just as easily do that with stuff delivered by a guy in a truck. You aren't describing a problem that is introduced by the drone concept.
86. Re:Stupid media bait by webheaded · 2013-12-03 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  If they can deliver to a majority of their customers in big cities, do you really think they care about people living in the middle of nowhere? I mean, I'm in Phoenix right now and a 10 mile radius around the warehouse they have here would cover a fairly significant portion of city. If they built one on the opposite side of the valley, they would really have something...or if they just had longer range copters eventually. My main point here though is that this service isn't for people that live way the hell away from this stuff. It's for big cities where lots of people live in a smaller area.
  
  --
  "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
87. Re:Stupid media bait by stub667 · 2013-12-04 01:25 · Score: 1
  
  No, you do what normal delivery people do and leave it at the security desk. Or with the guy hanging around outside the front whose job it is to wave his arms at taxis and move the beggars on. Or the drone landing bay the building installed on the second floor terrace balcony because the tenants wanted it. Or maybe they actually won't be leaving packages in random locations, and instead require you to actually be there to acknowledge the delivery. Maybe there are solutions to problems.
  I think the first place to get a system like this will be Tokyo though. The culture loves robots, and I imagine some depots could service 10 million people in that 10 mile service radius. Not only would you deliver your own product, but you would steal almost all the existing document and small item delivery market.
88. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-04 09:32 · Score: 0
  
  I don't know what you're referring to or how it relates to this line of discussion.
89. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-04 09:32 · Score: 0
  
  This story nicely demonstrates how the modern media has no time (or desire) to think on their own.
  This system is completely impractical. Anyone who has any idea on the capabilities of octocopters can immediately see that this idea is DOA.
  - Range is abysmal. If you are not within walking distance of a distribution center, you are not in range of one of these. They could offer 10x better service for those within walking distance of their distribution hub by offering in-situ instant pickup if you are happy to walk to the center.
  - Payload is non-existing - 0.5kg is quite a bit for an octocopter. Lets say they make a bigger "cargo" version and manage to quadruple that. 2kg. Too little for anything useful.
  - Octocopters are good-weather toys. They cannot be flown in heavy winds. "Sorry, no deliveries today, it's too windy". Yeah. Right.
  - The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled up to meaningful numbers - crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable, potentially hitting something and as a minimum causing an expensive tech toy wreck for Amazon. Often.
  So this is purely a silly story to get Amazon into headlines right around "Cyber Monday" so buyers would remember that Amazon exists.
  
  This story nicely demonstrates how the modern media has no time (or desire) to think on their own.
  This system is completely impractical. Anyone who has any idea on the capabilities of octocopters can immediately see that this idea is DOA.
  - Range is abysmal. If you are not within walking distance of a distribution center, you are not in range of one of these. They could offer 10x better service for those within walking distance of their distribution hub by offering in-situ instant pickup if you are happy to walk to the center.
  - Payload is non-existing - 0.5kg is quite a bit for an octocopter. Lets say they make a bigger "cargo" version and manage to quadruple that. 2kg. Too little for anything useful.
  - Octocopters are good-weather toys. They cannot be flown in heavy winds. "Sorry, no deliveries today, it's too windy". Yeah. Right.
  - The technology just isn't robust enough to be scaled up to meaningful numbers - crashes due to mechanical faults are inevitable, potentially hitting something and as a minimum causing an expensive tech toy wreck for Amazon. Often.
  So this is purely a silly story to get Amazon into headlines right around "Cyber Monday" so buyers would remember that Amazon exists.
  I like the idea of this drone, but I'm worry if it is going to be safe or not. I meant does it has any protection. When the drone carries the package, and what if someone throw a rock or any heavy object at it, is it safe enough. I like this idea by the away. I think it's very creative and it helpful. I think for those who cannot wait for their package to be deliver will like it. For instance, when I order something from online I have to wait, wait, and wait. Sometime when you wasn't at home, they will just leave the not there and you have to go pick it up. That is the waste of time and I know. I think this idea can affect in both good and bad way. The good thing is we have a new technology and the delivered will get to you faster. The bad part was the people who work as a delivery. They won't have a job anymore because we will use this drone instead.
90. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-06 07:42 · Score: 0
  
  To be honest many people know that Amazon does exist and maybe this wasn't done on purpose and the story came out late for the public to hear. Don't you think that it is more than a toy they are helping the world pollution decrees. They are doing their part a part that you simply cannot accomplish. How do you know it is not able to fly during bad weather have you seen it yourself. First of all don't assume you are only make an ASS out of yourself. With that said hope you can get to understand it more before you open your mouth and start assuming things. Thank you for your time and no am not a ANONYMOUS COWARD!
91. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-07 07:15 · Score: 0
  
  Pizzas aren't very aerodynamic when slung beneath a 'copter.
92. Re:Stupid media bait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-09 03:53 · Score: 0
  
  It could grip it by the HDMI port.
  you nasty bitch, you better get a good grip of that shit
Bravo Bezos for global PR coup by keysdisease · 2013-12-02 01:22 · Score: 5, Funny

The NY Times, WashPost, BBC, Deutche Welle, Straits Times, South China Morning Post, Sydney Morning Herald and I'm only 1/2 was thru my RSS feeds. Now Starbucks, flying my morning latte through my kitchen window, that would be news!
1. Re:Bravo Bezos for global PR coup by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:41 · Score: 0
  
  If you're in your kitchen, you can make a latte yourself...
2. Re: Bravo Bezos for global PR coup by keysdisease · 2013-12-02 08:29 · Score: 1
  
  That's so low tech! M
3. Re: Bravo Bezos for global PR coup by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 14:21 · Score: 0
  
  I can't be arsed to google an example, but I'm sure you can spend as much money as you like on some fancy/technological way to make coffee ;)
Until shot down by Gothmolly · 2013-12-02 01:22 · Score: 1

Most things on the drone will be spendy, and well packaged. Shoot them down, pawn the goods, rinse, repeat.

--
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
1. Re:Until shot down by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 03:24 · Score: 1
  
  Most things on the drone will be spendy, and well packaged. Shoot them down, pawn the goods, rinse, repeat.
  Why not just shoot the driver of a UPS truck and drive off with it while you're at it? Oh yeah, the police don't care too much for people shooting at other people or their property...
2. Re:Until shot down by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  Police are going to focus real resources on someone committing theft, murder and obstruction of traffic.
  Drone heists? Not so much.
3. Re:Until shot down by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:58 · Score: 0
  
  Drone operators are allowed to "stand their ground" (in the air) and fire upon threatening would-be attackers. Fire a few Hellfire missiles at some hillbillies, crackheads, and the occasional Afghani or Iraqi wedding or funeral (for tradition's sake), they'll get the message!
4. Re:Until shot down by Pumpkin+Tuna · 2013-12-02 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  That's right. Every time the UPS driver leaves a package on my porch, someone comes by and steals it. Oh wait. They don't. I guess they are waiting for a coptor to come down so they can risk getting chopped up by it's 8 spinning blades of death.
5. Re:Until shot down by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  Is firing guns in the air a common enough activity that the law doesn't take notice?
6. Re:Until shot down by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:44 · Score: 0
  
  spendy
  Greetings, fellow Oregonian!
7. Re:Until shot down by EvilSS · 2013-12-02 11:36 · Score: 1
  
  So the police would not consider this theft? Or care about the illegal discharge of a firearm?
  
  --
  I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Watch out for "within 4-5 years" by P-niiice · 2013-12-02 01:23 · Score: 2

Anything that's going to be "available within 4-5 years" is pretty much bullshit. A real plan would have a real date.
1. Re:Watch out for "within 4-5 years" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:29 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Yeah, "5-year plans" are never serious...
2. Re:Watch out for "within 4-5 years" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:49 · Score: 0
  
  They are looking at 2015
3. Re:Watch out for "within 4-5 years" by tgd · 2013-12-02 01:58 · Score: 1
  
  Anything that's going to be "available within 4-5 years" is pretty much bullshit. A real plan would have a real date.
  The real date isn't based on technology, its based on FAA licensing.
  A real date would prove they didn't know what they were doing.
4. Re:Watch out for "within 4-5 years" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:47 · Score: 0
  
  The tech is here now. This isn't some "revolutionary" battery that will finally make electric cars "feasible". People are doing this sort of thing NOW!. Mostly it's just the FAA and other organizations making grumbling noises since the various people haven't bent a knee and kissed their ring that might slow things downs. Of course they could deploy this in their factors without the FAA's permission. In a nice wind free environment of a big warehouse the drones could really move. Plenty of practice for getting the bugs out of the system. Have the drones pull the orders and stack up the boxes in the trucks.
  I'm just amazed we are seeing this sort of thing take off. I remember the episode of CowboyBebop with the delivery drone chasing down the girl trying to get her to sign for a package that she didn't want. Pretty cool that another piece of Sci-Fi (fuck you Scy-Fy channel) is dropping into place.
Australia is trying this too by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:25 · Score: 0

Somes aussies are trying this idea too, though they're just targeting at books for students at the moment.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-for-liftoff-on-drone-deliveries-in-australia-20131014-2vixx.html
Suggestion by Rik+Sweeney · 2013-12-02 01:25 · Score: 5, Interesting

Mount a camera on the drone and let me watch my package flying over the landscape via the "Track my package" option.

--
Summation 2
1. Re:Suggestion by 0123456 · 2013-12-02 03:33 · Score: 1
  
  Mount a camera on the drone and let me watch my package flying over the landscape via the "Track my package" option.
  Around this time last year, we were waiting for an important and urgent transatlantic courier delivery, managed to figure out which flight it was on, and were following the plane online as it crossed the atlantic so we could ensure the customs clearance guy was ready to deal with it as soon as it landed. So we're not too far from being able to do that today.
2. Re:Suggestion by fulldecent · 2013-12-02 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  Organ?
  
  --
  -- I was raised on the command line, bitch
3. Re:Suggestion by Salgat · 2013-12-03 14:47 · Score: 1
  
  It will probably need a camera with a mobile link anyways since you almost have to have someone control it when it arrives to know exactly where to put it. Since Amazon already has the video feed on its servers I can see it let you track it (either for a limited time, as a series of pictures on an interval, or based on a subscription/fee).
Harry Potter gets real! by Errol+backfiring · 2013-12-02 01:26 · Score: 3, Funny

Next up: package delivered by drone will sound a siren if not opened immediately.
Personally, I would like to go back to the good old days when we used owls for that.

--
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
my first order by Chrisq · 2013-12-02 01:32 · Score: 5, Funny

will be this.
1. Re:my first order by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:46 · Score: 0
  
  They only will do that for packages weighing 5 lbs
2. Re:my first order by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:54 · Score: 0
  
  In that case, I'm ordering this. (yo dawg!)
I predict "safety" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:33 · Score: 0

No drones over my children until they have to mee the same safety standards Airbus and Boeing do. Do we really want a company trying to out Walmart the Walmart logistics flying over our houses?
1. Re:I predict "safety" by MightyYar · 2013-12-02 02:21 · Score: 1
  
  I agree, though when you do the cost-benefit analysis, the danger of road-bound delivery vehicles cruising around residential neighborhoods and people driving to stores should be considered as well.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
2. Re:I predict "safety" by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 03:07 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Hate to break it to you, but the only aircraft that have to meet the safety standards that Boeing and Airbus meet are those running published airline routes.
  The news helicopter flying overhead is regulated to a lower standard. The private jet carrying some CEO across the country is regulated to a lower standard. Larry Elison flying his own personal jet is regulated to an even lower standard still, and the guy buzzing over your house in the plane he built himself is regulated to the lowest standard of all.
  That said, there are standards, and the FAA has standards for drones as well. The level of rigor largely depends on:
  1. How heavy the plane is (a little RC aircraft might give your kid a cut if it crashed into them, a cessna would squish them like a bug).
  2. Whether the operation is recreational or commercial (flying is expensive, so not too many people are put at risk if their free airplane ride is a bit risky - but self-sustaining operations are a different story).
  3. Whether a commercial operation involves an airline route (if the CEO is paying for the plane he is riding on, chances are he's going to not be cheap on the maintenance budget - when you just buy a plane ticket you're at the mercy of the megacorp maintaining the plane).
  For the most part commercial operations tend to be much safer than flying, and recreational operations tend to be about as safe as riding a motorcycle - more hazardous than a car, but not outside the realm of normal activity. Planes by their very nature tend to be fairly light, so their damage potential for those not in the cabin is actually pretty low when compared to the analogous ground-based activity (cars, trucks, trains, freighters, etc).
  I'm sure the FAA would consider this a commercial operation and regulate it accordingly. Right now the regulations are actually so tight that anything but experimental/developmental use is impractical (usually you have to have human operators able to take manual control, observers watching the drone, etc). I imagine that they'll only remove the leash when somebody comes up with a system that is fairly robust. Besides, a drone capable of carrying a package any distance is going to be expensive - you wouldn't just want to be losing them due to failures all the time.
3. Re:I predict "safety" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  a) No, the FAA doesn't yet have standards for UAVs
  b) No, safety standards aren't differentiated for "running published airline routes".
  c) if we accept that these are digital fly by wire aircraft (and they are), they will promptly become $100K creatures if they are required to meet any modern nation's standards for fly by wire aircraft.
4. Re:I predict "safety" by Holi · 2013-12-02 13:20 · Score: 1
  
  Higher, Boeing and Airbus cannot fly below a certain altitude in your neighborhood. These will be at just the right height to really hurt someone.
  You really think the FAA would make a safety allowance for commercial use of drones in densely populated areas? Right, cause that's not a lawsuit waiting to happen.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
5. Re:I predict "safety" by Holi · 2013-12-02 13:23 · Score: 1
  
  Except these would have much closer interaction with people then any of the above. To the tune of inches (how else do you get your package from the drone). No Govt agency is going to allow you to put your commercial drone within inches of a person.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
6. Re:I predict "safety" by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 16:08 · Score: 1
  
  Presumably they'll just drop them on your doorstep, just like how most people get their other parcels. Unless somebody is home all day long it isn't terribly practical to sign for them.
7. Re:I predict "safety" by Rich0 · 2013-12-02 16:24 · Score: 1
  
  a) No, the FAA doesn't yet have standards for UAVs
  http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/uas_faq/index.cfm?print=go
  I guess "standards" is pushing it a bit - they're approved on a case-by-case basis for experimental use, just like a lot of planes people fly in are.
  
  No, safety standards aren't differentiated for "running published airline routes".
  My mistake. Looks like the term is "conducts airplane operations as a commercial operator engaged in intrastate common carriage of persons or property for compensation or hire in air commerce, or as a direct air carrier" (14 CFR 119.21(a))
  However, the standards certainly are different for that vs just giving somebody a ride in your plane.
  
  if we accept that these are digital fly by wire aircraft (and they are), they will promptly become $100K creatures if they are required to meet any modern nation's standards for fly by wire aircraft.
  Maybe - it remains to be seen how things are standardized. Also, building the first one will likely be expensive, but as with anything aviation-related the prices get more manageable as you scale up.
8. Re:I predict "safety" by astro128 · 2013-12-03 03:57 · Score: 1
  
  For the most part I agree with you, except for the "a little RC aircraft might give your kid a cut if it crashed into them" - that cut could be a death blow to his head! Just two months (reported here on Slashdot and elsewhere) someone was killed flying their drone (granted doing some stupid trick) but it does illustrate that the dangers are real - especially if the drone is landing in someone's yard.
too late guys by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:33 · Score: 0

Obama already has prior art for one-click drone killing of American citizens. No patent for you!
Purolator III: Rise of the Drones by peter.kingsbury · 2013-12-02 01:37 · Score: 1

It's almost like they're building a network... in the sky...
Score: 5 Bullshit! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:38 · Score: 0

I really don't know what Bezo's motivation is for this "revelation". But, this "plan" for drone deliveries is NOT going to happen! Never. I'll even wager that they won't even have drone use inside the distribution center campus!
This story is some sort of red herring.
P.S. Wasn't there just a story of some Australian college student trying to launch just such a system for text books? Yep! Here it is.
So by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:38 · Score: 0

Everyone needs to live within a 30 minute drone flight from an Amazon warehouse? Or will there be magical 3D printers that can make anything every 10 city blocks and magical unicorn drones that have failsafe batteries and willl never crash into people or each other.... to deliver baubles.
1. Re:So by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 10:25 · Score: 1
  
  They said a 16 kilometre (10 mile) range. If you put a fulfillment centre in a major city, that ~16 kilometre radius circle covers roughly 800 square kilometres. In New York City, that's about 8.5 million people served, which isn't too bad.
  I suspect that if they built a depot in a few large cities, they could cover a rather large number of people, particularly as battery technology improved and that radius expanded.
2. Re:So by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 11:27 · Score: 0
  
  Modern retail quad-copters go at least 20 MPH, closer to 30MPH, and that's loaded with professional cameras. I can walk about 15 city blocks in 30 minutes, and that's going about 3 MPH. (I do it several times a week, in fact, walking to work in downtown San Francisco. It's about 1 1/2 miles and two hills).
  The technical limitations to this aren't technological. I doubt the present state-of-the-art would be cost effective, but we're well within the envelope where incremental improvements could make it work in metropolitan areas.
  The biggest impediment is obviously legal. Not just the FAA, but state and local ordinances--present and future. Remember how the Segway was banned from side walks? I never believed the hype that it would revolutionize transport, but the market would be several times bigger if it weren't for the backlash.
Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by JoeyRox · 2013-12-02 01:40 · Score: 2

Investors continue to give Bezos the benefit of the doubt, allowing him to reinvest Amazon's entire cash flow into the company with the expectation that "some day" Amazon will be able to flip an investment switch and suddenly become immensely profitable. Perhaps. But it seems to me Bezos just doesn't care about money and is using Amazon's money as his personal playpen.
1. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by semi-extrinsic · 2013-12-02 02:14 · Score: 2
  
  Analysts have pointed out that the way Amazon is investing, it is clear that it intends to use it's current advantage in online retail to build a distribution network that is sufficiently advanced that any competitors will have to spend huge amounts of time/money to catch up. It's a long tail gambit.
  
  Imagine in twenty years being able to look at your infrastructure and be confident that no-one on the planet has anything on the same scale (except perhaps the US military). Then you can start churning a profit like nobody's business (pun intended).
  
  --
  for i in `facebook friends "=bday" 2>/dev/null | cut -d " " -f 3-`; do facebook wallpost $i "Happy birthday!"; done
2. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:29 · Score: 0
  
  But it seems to me Bezos just doesn't care about money and is using Amazon's money as his personal playpen.
  What, would you rather he use it as his personal auto-consumer-fucking machine like most other retailers as large as Amazon, or are you happy he's actually doing something at least halfway interesting, even if it probably won't see the light of day for obvious reasons? Because seriously, this might be a stupid idea in practice, but it's still cool to think about, and that's more than the soulless conglomerate entities running Wal-Mart have done in the past thirty years.
3. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:10 · Score: 0
  
  The military is now starting plans to use Amazon's systems as well.
  source: I can't tell you.
4. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by DerekLyons · 2013-12-02 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Analysts have pointed out that the way Amazon is investing, it is clear that it intends to use it's current advantage in online retail to build a distribution network that is sufficiently advanced that any competitors will have to spend huge amounts of time/money to catch up. It's a long tail gambit.
  
  They've been doing this for a very long time - all the way back to the dot bomb era. While other companies were buying Aeron chairs and throwing $10000 a head Christmas parties, Amazon was building distribution centers. Say what you want about Bezos and Amazon, but he's very clearly playing for the long term, and it's paying off.
5. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:35 · Score: 0
  
  Where is the pun? I can't find the pun....
6. Re:Will Amazon ever post a profit again? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:21 · Score: 0
  
  The U.S. military has been going in the opposite direction for decades. It's supply network is mostly out sourced, even though it's patently idiotic (logistics is a core competency of any good military, and one you'd want to be centralized for maximum economy of scale) and costly (manifestly so).
  So, Amazon could indeed have the largest logistical network in the world.
publicity stunt by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 01:43 · Score: 0

This is just a massive publicity stunt just ahead of Christmas. I can't believe all the media is falling for it.
Wildly impractical by DrXym · 2013-12-02 01:43 · Score: 1

I could see the potential benefit of using drones to facilitate express delivery of packages between depots or designated collection points. I don't see how they are practical for delivering all the way to some random recipient. At the very least someone would have to geotag a landing spot which was free from wires and other hazards - would they trust the customer to do that or would they need someone to come out? Aside from that I'm sure there are severe limits on the size and weight of the things it can deliver. Not to mention the cost of such a service.
Awesome by 50000BTU_barbecue · 2013-12-02 01:46 · Score: 1

I just ordered a 30$ USB drive and hey! free 3000$ drone!

--
Mostly random stuff.
Plan B is an Autonomous Segway by theodp · 2013-12-02 01:48 · Score: 1

Memories. Still pretty cool, even if the public hasn't clamored for it. :-)
News?? by Dcnjoe60 · 2013-12-02 01:54 · Score: 1

If the story has been run on 60 Minutes, it's hardly "News for Nerds" any more. After it has already been disseminated to the general public through, why would it be newsworthy here? And yes, I know that not everybody is in the US, nor did they see 60 Minutes last night, but really, if CBS already ran this story, why is /. ?
1. Re:News?? by MightyYar · 2013-12-02 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  Isn't there a 40-and-over rule for people to watch 60 minutes?
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
2. Re:News?? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:53 · Score: 0
  
  60 minutes is hardly credible anymore, with their non-apology for their false Benghazi story (the one that your FauxNews watching grandpa believes is true).
3. Re:News?? by Alioth · 2013-12-03 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  So we can discuss it.
  
  --
  Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
I see a new resurgence coming. by Virtucon · 2013-12-02 01:55 · Score: 1

In Skeet/Trap shooting skills. Instead of clay pigeons it'll be Amazon drones.

--
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
1. Re:I see a new resurgence coming. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:50 · Score: 0
  
  In Skeet/Trap shooting skills. Instead of clay pigeons it'll be Amazon drones.
  It is interesting how many people here, on a US centric site, immediately talks about bringing out the guns and shooting at the thing. In local discussions (Scandinavian) I haven't seen this come up even once.
Considerations. by lionchild · 2013-12-02 02:03 · Score: 1

1.) What types of weather will these deliveries fly in?
2.) Will Amazon be trying to hire away remote pilots from the US Air Force, or will the US Air Force be recruiting from Amazon?
3.) You thought overnight shipping was expensive.......
Things to think about.

--
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
1. Re:Considerations. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:20 · Score: 0
  
  Ho hum, idiot consumer: 1) most 2) no, they are full auto 3) will be plenty cheaper than anything ever seen
  Yeah so.
2. Re:Considerations. by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 10:31 · Score: 1
  
  The drones are supposed to be autonomous. No pilot, which really cuts down on costs. While the drones aren't necessarily going to be cheap, the delivery costs could potentially be rather affordable.
In all seriousness.. by lionchild · 2013-12-02 02:10 · Score: 2

If private organizations can't use drones to help with natural disasters, such as those in Colorado, how do you suppose this will get approved to fly near local airports and various cities and towns won't outlaw the flying of drones?
Of course, there's always the question: How do you deliver to high-rise apartments and other high-density dwellings?

--
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
1. Re:In all seriousness.. by Honclfibr · 2013-12-02 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  If private organizations can't use drones to help with natural disasters, such as those in Colorado, how do you suppose this will get approved to fly near local airports and various cities and towns won't outlaw the flying of drones?
  By money, of course. Same way everything gets approved.
  Private organizations don't have Amazon money.
2. Re:In all seriousness.. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:30 · Score: 0
  
  Private companies that lose money in disasters can't pay to get laws passed to allow drones.
  Amazon will just pay to get the rights to use drones.
3. Re:In all seriousness.. by ScentCone · 2013-12-02 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  If private organizations can't use drones to help with natural disasters, such as those in Colorado, how do you suppose this will get approved to fly near local airports and various cities and towns won't outlaw the flying of drones?
  Hence the reference to 2015. That's when the FAA says they'll have the regs sorted out.
  
  Of course, there's always the question: How do you deliver to high-rise apartments and other high-density dwellings?
  I can hardly think of a better destination than a busy office tower or large apartment building. They have mail rooms. Put a small annex room on the top floor, and use the Amazon Coal Chute for deliveries from the roof - straight to the guy in the mail room. The drone can fly to a known collection of rooftop destinations with much less fuss than they would to random residences/businesses "on the ground."
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
4. Re:In all seriousness.. by smellsofbikes · 2013-12-02 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  If private organizations can't use drones to help with natural disasters, such as those in Colorado, how do you suppose this will get approved to fly near local airports and various cities and towns won't outlaw the flying of drones?
  Of course, there's always the question: How do you deliver to high-rise apartments and other high-density dwellings?
  During the Colorado flood, the area around it was under temporary flight restrictions, as determined by the FAA, and no unauthorized aircraft were allowed to fly in it.
  While TFR's are getting vastly more common as every penny-ante promoter wants to make every event seem so big it needs special FAA protection to allow it to run, the reality is that 99% of the time, 99% of the airspace is available for private and commercial air operations.
  
  --
  Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
5. Re:In all seriousness.. by luther349 · 2013-12-02 06:30 · Score: 1
  
  yep the last thing the faa whats tons of these things hogging up airspace hell the laws on fpga craft are still unclear.those long range rc planes.
6. Re:In all seriousness.. by lionchild · 2013-12-02 09:53 · Score: 1
  
  I can hardly think of a better destination than a busy office tower or large apartment building. They have mail rooms. Put a small annex room on the top floor, and use the Amazon Coal Chute for deliveries from the roof - straight to the guy in the mail room. The drone can fly to a known collection of rooftop destinations with much less fuss than they would to random residences/businesses "on the ground."
  I'm dubious that existing buildings would work for this 'Amazon Coal Chute' since it would require re-design to add said chute, which is construction after architects and engineers, and city planning/zoning approval, etc.. I suppose if Amazon wants to pay for all that too...
  Besides, I'm not sure I've seen many 'average' apartments who have a manned mail room. Luxury places, perhaps so...
  
  --
  Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
7. Re:In all seriousness.. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 02:18 · Score: 0
  
  Helping with natural disasters doesn't make as much money? Anyway I'm pretty sure we will get some sort of 'Aerial Checkpoint' to make sure the drone is not carrying terrorism.
"4-5 Years" by FuzzNugget · 2013-12-02 02:13 · Score: 5, Informative

For the uninitiated, that's marketingese for "we have no fucking clue."
bummer by StripedCow · 2013-12-02 02:19 · Score: 0

but Bezos predicts it'll be available to the public in the next 4-5 years.
In the next 4-5 years they will be obsoleted by 3d printers that can print stuff in our own home.

--
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
1. Re:bummer by Guspaz · 2013-12-02 10:34 · Score: 1
  
  So, how would I 3D print a computer? Or a battery? Or a hard drive? Or a stuffed animal? Or a smartphone?
  3D printers are extremely limited in their application, and will continue to be for decades to come. On the other hand, how are you going to get your 3D printing supplies delivered?
2. Re:bummer by StripedCow · 2013-12-02 11:30 · Score: 1
  
  On the other hand, how are you going to get your 3D printing supplies delivered?
  By printing a drone, and sending it to the shop?
  
  --
  If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
60 Minutes & Employment by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:26 · Score: 0

Last week, Lara Logan was given an indefinite leave of absence(read fired) for not properly vetting a source for a Bengazi story that turned out to have falsifications in it due to a lying source.
What's going to happen next week, when the 60 Minutes bosses realize that this reporter was totally duped by Bezo PR hoax and reported utter fantasy and bullshit as fact? Did they fact check ANY of this? Did they contact anyone outside of Amazon to see if this was even possible?
This old dude needs to be shit-canned. At least Lara was a looker.
1. Re:60 Minutes & Employment by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:23 · Score: 0
  
  Here, in the wild, we see yet another idiot cavorting in bullshit. Need I say more?
  Oh, wait, yes I do. This guy is smoking unicorn horns.
30 minute delivery? by cjjjer · 2013-12-02 02:34 · Score: 2, Insightful

From what I have read the drones can only deliver anywhere within a 10 mile radius of a fulfillment center. I am not anywhere near a fulfillment center so I am not sure how practical these would be. Unless they plan on building thousands of these centers all over the US.
1. Re:30 minute delivery? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:45 · Score: 0
  
  Would they need to? Given how urbanized the US is, I think they could cover quite a bit with one centre in each state capital plus another dozen or two in the remaining major cities. That's nothing, at least on Amazon's scale.
2. Re:30 minute delivery? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 11:15 · Score: 0
  
  I imagine that people in population centers will find them practical. Population centers cover a good chunk of the population too.
3. Re:30 minute delivery? by Salgat · 2013-12-03 14:45 · Score: 1
  
  Combine this with automated vehicles and you could setup mobile deployment stations. This is awesome because you could have a semi-truck drive 30 miles, stop in a designated area, let 5 of these guys go out on deliveries for a couple hours, then move to the next spot. The vehicles would be out 24/7 and only return when they needed to restock or for maintenance.
BULL**** by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:43 · Score: 0

Probably pie in the sky bull.
If not I will be buying a rifle to shoot the pests.
1. Re:BULL**** by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:24 · Score: 0
  
  No you won't, Internet Tough Guy, which is good because you'd be neither legally nor morally justified in doing so.
Towns by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:44 · Score: 0

Yeah, the kind of places that offer bounties for shooting down drones will likely never see services like this. Given the range these things will likely have, even in 4-5 (10-15) years, your delivery range will be limited to a few dozen miles, at best, from a properly-equipped distribution node -- and let's not kid ourselves by thinking that all nodes will be equipped with these. You might -- might -- see this in major metropolitan centers like NYC... definitely not in Bumfuck, AL.
Target Practice by RotateLeftByte · 2013-12-02 02:55 · Score: 1

These things would be just the job for that in some parts of the US given the number of holes you see in road signs.
A few 12bore blasts and they would be landfill.
with the millions of guns available and people not wanting Big Bro spying on them these will soon bite the dust in more ways than one.

--
I'd rather be riding my '63 Triumph T120.
1. Re:Target Practice by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:27 · Score: 0
  
  Road signs don't have cameras. Red necks like to shoot traffic cameras, too, but those have blind spots. Maneuvering into the blind spot of a quad-copter with a fish eye lens 100 feet in the air is probably difficult for most red necks or people of similar persuasion (regardless of the color of their neck).
Re:"Autonomous Drone"... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 02:57 · Score: 0

But needs didn't need an apostrophe.
Would it though? by Junta · 2013-12-02 03:05 · Score: 1

Delivery trucks are massive beasts forced to take circuitous routes to accomplish their purpose.
These devices do indeed have the burden of being airborne, but on the other hand are much lighter weight (e.g. don't need a lot of safety features, don't have to size capacity to a max load' which might not be as close to average load, and can go direct without worrying about whether there are roads or not).
I think there are other logistical challenges that have me skeptical, but I could be convinced that overall the energy picture might not be too bad.

--
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
1. Re:Would it though? by Mr+D+from+63 · 2013-12-02 03:26 · Score: 1
  
  I suppose there is an argument if you compare single package deliveries. But if you look a normal full truck roll I find it hard to imagine. It takes a lot of work to keep a copter in the air. Rolling is a very energy efficient method of moving objects. Think about what it takes to ride a bike versus what it would take to pedal a copter with you in it.
Amazon Prime Trebuchet by kmahan · 2013-12-02 03:13 · Score: 1

I'm holding out for the Trebuchet delivery option.

--
Invalid Checksum. Retrying.
Re:"Autonomous Drone"... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:16 · Score: 0

Amazon's current warehouse drones are largely autonomous in that they need zero human intervention to decide what packages go where, how and where to place/move shelves, and if/when to break for a recharge. The entire system has nobody driving it -- the only thing humans do at these shops is actually pack the boxes after a robot sorts through inventory and brings him/her the appropriate item. There are a few fascinating documentaries on how they handle and account for stock, if you're interested.
It's not absurd to believe that Amazon could bring the same level of autonomy to flying drones.
This has to be a joke. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:24 · Score: 0

I'm hoping to see flying cars next.
1. Re:This has to be a joke. by tatman · 2013-12-02 03:37 · Score: 1
  
  you need to do some searching on the internet. and maybe wake up. :) I mean that in all light warmheartedness. It's happening.
  
  --
  I've always said English was my second language. Had Romeo and Juliet been written in C, I might have understood it.
2. Re:This has to be a joke. by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 03:40 · Score: 1
  
  We already have them. They are just expensive to run and far to dangerous to allow anyone to fly without very demanding training and certification.
  We call them helicopters.
Weight by flyingfsck · 2013-12-02 03:25 · Score: 1

That would be perfect for delivery of anything that weighs about the same as a postage stamp.

--
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
1. Re:Weight by ranton · 2013-12-02 03:36 · Score: 1
  
  That would be perfect for delivery of anything that weighs about the same as a postage stamp.
  Or anything weighing up to 5 pounds, which apparently makes up over 80% of their shipments. I was about to say RTFA, but then I read the article myself and found that it left out a lot of important information from the actual 60 minutes interview.
  
  --
  -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
2. Re:Weight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 03:37 · Score: 0
  
  LSD blotters?
3. Re:Weight by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-02 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  Four and a half pounds.
  Got to include the weatherproof packaging, too.
4. Re:Weight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:45 · Score: 0
  
  "Four and a half pounds."
  About 4 hand grenades then.
5. Re:Weight by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  I read the article myself and found that it left out a lot of important information from the actual 60 minutes interview.
  Developing nations tend to skip the major infrastructure investments that previous developed nations have made. Instead of networks of roads, canals, rails, copper wires, fiber, etc., a developing country can "catch up" by leveraging a new technology, such as airplanes, cellphones, etc.
  It's easy to dismiss something like this in its infancy, but you expand your vision beyond the US (which still has >50% of the paved road-miles in the world), you are looking at a (currently impossible) 30 minute package delivery in Mumbai, or Jakarta, or Karachi, or a dozen other cities much larger than New York. Launching it in the US is just an easy way to get the idea off the ground...but don't think we're the real target customers.
6. Re:Weight by g0bshiTe · 2013-12-02 07:05 · Score: 1
  
  I fly rc with a guy that build some serious octos. His latest has a flight time of 16 minutes fully loaded, fully loaded means carrying a 30 pound payload, usually his gimbal and camera.
  
  --
  I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
7. Re:Weight by Holi · 2013-12-02 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  30lb gimbal and camera? what kind of camera does he have?
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
+1 for "Rainbows End" by Daetrin · 2013-12-02 03:39 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yet another thing, along with self-driving cars, Google Books, and Google Glass, that Vernor Vinge's 2006 novel seems to be on track for.

--
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
1. Re:+1 for "Rainbows End" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 08:06 · Score: 0
  
  Actually UP/Ex (the merger of UPS and Federal Express in that book, yes there are more obvious ways to name it...) uses ballistic launchers. They don't try to solve the problem of flying a drone through the urban environment but instead use a cannon to launch objects on a ballistic trajectory that will bring them down near the destination. This obviously leaves a serious packing problem, to deliver objects that are literally being fired out of a cannon, safely and intact. Perhaps it deploys a parachute. We read the description of a character in Rainbows End catching such a parcel, but I don't think there's much description of what happens if it's simply permitted to hit the ground and left there.
drones are good, drones are bad by tatman · 2013-12-02 03:39 · Score: 1

I hope that Amazon idea takes off. Its green, economically sound idea. I think we need to get over the idea that drones are bad. They can be used in bad ways, and we should create a framework that defines good uses for drones. For lack of better words, a bill of rights about drone uses.

--
I've always said English was my second language. Had Romeo and Juliet been written in C, I might have understood it.
1. Re:drones are good, drones are bad by ArcadeMan · 2013-12-02 04:06 · Score: 1
  
  Drones are just tools. Given how much spying is going on, you'd think people would be forming mobs in all cities on the planet demanding that cellphones and computers be illegal to own. But drones are new so they are the target-du-jour.
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
2. Re:drones are good, drones are bad by tatman · 2013-12-02 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  Your signature pretty much explains it :D
  
  --
  I've always said English was my second language. Had Romeo and Juliet been written in C, I might have understood it.
3. Re:drones are good, drones are bad by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-02 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  How is the idea green? These copters are running on either some sort of oil-derived fuel, or batteries (which you burn plenty of energy making as well), right? I have to assume that it takes a hell of a lot more energy to keep something this size airborne than the equivalent wheeled delivery gadget that drives on, say, sidewalks.
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
Drone-hunting is legal in prts of Colorado by peter303 · 2013-12-02 03:54 · Score: 1

You can buy a license.
but I DIDN'T ORDER an antipersonnel bomb! by swschrad · 2013-12-02 03:57 · Score: 1

"return to sende"BOOOMMMM!
obviously, their refund policy is going to change...

--
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
This idea would be better for Food by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 04:15 · Score: 1

It's be more practical to do something like this as a street vendor of food products, etc. Suppose you're in a large park area and want a hot dog. You start an app on your phone, place the order, and a vendor in the park loads the drone and the drone finds you via you're phone location (GPS enabled, and location sent in with the order). Payment is made on placement of the order via paypal/credit card. I'd get such an "Air dog."
Nevermind all the other problems by mark_reh · 2013-12-02 04:33 · Score: 1

such as weather, limited flying range, etc., the biggest problem of all is the liability resulting from someone or their pet being injured when those whirling blades hit them.
Then there's the problem of people stealing the drones to modify for fun and profit.
I'm guessing the Mexican cartels are technologically way ahead of amazon in this game.
Oblig. XKCD by pr0t0 · 2013-12-02 04:34 · Score: 1

Researcher translation: https://xkcd.com/678/

--
I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
Waterstones' answer to this... O.W.L.S. by chiark · 2013-12-02 04:52 · Score: 1

http://www.waterstones.com/blog/2013/12/introducing-o-w-l-s
A more environmentally friendly approach, perhaps. Hat tip to Waterstones for their response!
some ideas to mitigate.... by schlachter · 2013-12-02 04:59 · Score: 2

1. If a drone is downed, it will report it's last known GPS coords. If it's still online after crashing, it will probably live stream audio/video of what's happening to it.
2. Allow other drones out for delivery to swarm a downed drone to observe the perpetrators ad hoc until a dedicated incident drone can arrive to observe
3. Fry the electronics upon being downed so that they can't be stolen.
4. Initially ship only items that are of low cost, despite being of high value to the consumer. (i.e. hdmi cable, diapers, etc).
5. Initially only ship items which can be permanently disabled via serial number if the drone goes down. (i.e. kindle, cell phone, etc)
6. Initially have a large percentage of total drones be test drones with no shipments, so downing drones is not very profitable.
7. Have the drones fly totally unpredictable routes so that one can not anticipate their flight path.

--
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
1. Re:some ideas to mitigate.... by Holi · 2013-12-02 13:18 · Score: 1
  
  Great, if the goal is to steal them. But think about it, How many times do you here people say if they see a drone they would shoot it down? It's not the thieves you have to worry about, it's the vandals, who you won't catch with your system.
  
  --
  Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
No Knock by AzTechGuy · 2013-12-02 05:05 · Score: 1

The stupid drone didn't knock on my door and my tablet got stolen off my porch. Then I get a knock on the door from the local PD with a complaint from my neighbor. She claims my drone flew from my front porch, flew over her backyard and was spying on her sunbathing nude. LOL, just some random thoughts
not at all by schlachter · 2013-12-02 05:06 · Score: 1

As someone in the industry, this is absolutely practical with current tech. Nothing new needs to be invented. It's just a hardware infrastructure build out, software build out, and society/FAA issue.
I'm surprised to see so many people think this is BS. Sure there are issues. But that's always the case.
Your assumptions about what the current tech can handle are false.

--
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
good idea, wrong vendor by clovis · 2013-12-02 05:21 · Score: 1

This would be somewhat more interesting if the vendor were AshleyMadison.
Air Piracy? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:25 · Score: 1

I love how people commenting online keep taking about air piracy and how these will be shot down. Imagine how bad road piracy would be if deliveries were made via trucks on highways! People could hijack an entire truck full of packages!
Read the fine print! Re:my first order by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 05:44 · Score: 0

Amazon Air may choose to send your package via other technologies, which may include:
trebuchet, a large wooden badger (wheeled up to your door), ICBM, or our newest innovation: orbital warehouses with railgun delivery systems. Please ensure that your site is prepared to receive your delivery. In 5, 4, 3, ...
Better idea by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 06:00 · Score: 0

1) set up 3d print centers around major cities with good weather (sorry Seattle)
2) deliver to business parks via drones
3) ??
4) Profit
Once that is working, price it at what the market will bear.
Its not city dependent, but neighborhood by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:04 · Score: 0

Its not city or province dependent, the crime rate varies by the neighbourhood. I worked for a while for a gas company replacing gas meters from inside houses to outside. Some neighbourhoods, you could leave everything wide open (van doors, tools, generators, whatever). Other places you keep everything chained down, locked up, and still see long haired skinny guys on 10 speed bikes driving all over the neighbourhood. One place we were at there were 4 of us working in the back yard. Van is parked behind the garage. Buddy quietly opened one of the doors, grabbed a 40 pound Ridgid Power Drive 700 Hand Held Threader. What do do with it? They are $2200+ new, so pawn it for $50. All in the same city.
ADS-B and bat behavior by Billy+the+Mountain · 2013-12-02 07:40 · Score: 1

FAA has a requirement that will be coming up for virtually all aircraft called ADS-B. It's basically a self-imposed tracking system that broadcasts your position in all three axes and your ground speed. It's in an unencrypted form so that any aircraft in flight can receive positions from nearby aircraft. My guess is the FAA will mandate that the drones be so equipped.

Another observation: Here in Texas where there a pockets of huge populations of Mexican free tail bats, there is an interesting thing that happens when they emerge to forage on insects. They all stream out following each other in a main column (that can actually be seen on radar) and then branch out sort of resembling a tree. It would probably make sense for package distribution to follow a similar model where the route is not a straight line but a predictable route. Outgoing drones flow along in a pre-set column and incoming drones flow along in another distinct column. Bats on radar

BTM

--
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
If only by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 07:57 · Score: 0

If only there was a way to use inertia with no blades..... /LOL
I for one welcome our drone capture overlords by WillAffleckUW · 2013-12-02 08:11 · Score: 1

I for one welcome our future Sky Thieves (TM) who will pirate packages from Prime Air and use them to fuel their Zeppelin based future society.

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
A Terrible Place to Work by turgid · 2013-12-02 08:24 · Score: 1

Amazon is a terrible place to work, at least in the UK. They treat their staff appallingly. The BBC did a report as well.
Victorian working conditions are returning.

--
Stick Men
I look forward to the tgime when by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-02 09:04 · Score: 1

they use this for pizza delivery.
Good idea... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 09:43 · Score: 0

Too bad you're trying to do this in a trigger happy, gun crazy country. Each drone won't survive more than a day before a crazy american just goes and scream "FREE STUFF!!" only to proceed to shoot the drone down.
You just know things like this will happen.
#dronogram by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-02 10:21 · Score: 0

There. I came up with a hashtag for you. #dronogram. My work is done here. Another exhausting day.
Free advertising buzz by MinamataHG · 2013-12-02 11:18 · Score: 1

that's what it is. The idea is interesting though. I can already imagine the long list of conditions for this service if it does ever comes to life.
Drones are for the last 100 meters by Animats · 2013-12-02 11:42 · Score: 1

Drones are a solution to getting from the truck to the door (or window landing stage). The truck stops, drones fan out to deliver packages nearby, and the drones return to the truck for a quick recharge before the next delivery. In a few years, the trucks will be self-driving, Amazon warehouses will have Kiva robots, and very few people will be necessary.
Come on people.. think about this.. by elmer+at+web-axis · 2013-12-02 11:43 · Score: 0

This is nothing more than a cheap way to get publicity. Why do people keep falling for it. Amazon has no real intention to use the drones but just like Dominoes it puts together a puff piece of the 'News' outlets so it can advertise itself to new markets. This is the same deal as the Ubuntu phone. It was nothing more than advertising and yet people lap it up thinking this brave new world is coming and it's being flown in by magical techno trumpet playing cherubs...
Could be easily hijacked by gabrieltss · 2013-12-02 12:04 · Score: 1

These things could easily be hijacked. Nothing like a good GPS jammer wouldn't take care of.. Illegal, yes but so is all the surveillance the government is doing to us! They make stopping them illegal. Heck figure how Iran "hijacked" one of our military drones, do the same thing..... This idea by Amazon is a REAL bad idea!

--
The Truth is a Virus!!!
Better then skeet shooting! by MonsterMasher · 2013-12-02 16:12 · Score: 1

"Must be the terrible air currents around here, better drive it up next time."
coins in shopping trollies by pne · 2013-12-02 22:12 · Score: 1

Holy cow - one pound to lock up a shopping cart? In the US those carts typically require 25 cents.
Which, coincidentally, is the largest US coin in common use. (Imagine if they only accepted dollar coins.)
FWIW, in Germany, shopping trollies typically take 50-cent or 1-euro coins.

--
Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
Drones? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 04:06 · Score: 0

I wonder why we would want drones to give us the packages we need. Might as well put in the millennium falcon with Han solo.
In other words, Amazon is lazy.
Wierd ..... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 04:11 · Score: 0

This reminds me of when you make carnitas because it looks like a grill.
AMAZON ROBOT by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 04:25 · Score: 0

I think it is pretty cool that there trying to make another way to transport things.I think it would be a cool idea to do that that way i would think it will be faster.
Automated Delivery Receptacle by kalqlate · 2013-12-03 08:16 · Score: 1

In conjunction with an automated (wirelessly controlled), standard-constructed receptacle atop the roof, drone delivery could really... take off. Amazon (or other delivery company) would send a special code via the Internet to the intended receptacle at the intended address. The drone flies out to the location, the drone signals the receptacle, the receptacle signals back with the code, the drone says "package ready", the receptacle opens, package dropped, lowered, or inserted from the drone, receptacle closes, drone flies off, package accessible from interior shoot or attic.
Dumb by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 08:36 · Score: 0

It says it when everything in the world is electric
One man by CHIT2ME · 2013-12-03 11:05 · Score: 0

One man, one shotgun, score the goodies!!!

--
My karma is bad. Don't get too close!!!
We've seen this before by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-03 13:53 · Score: 0

I remember reading about a company that wanted to do this before. Here's an article:
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/16/flying-drones-to-deliver-text-books/
50% Good 50% Bad. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-06 07:45 · Score: 0

Prime Air is actually a good idea! I would have never thought that amazon would do this. the good part about this is that we are getting are packages in 30 minutes. YAY!!! The bad part about Prime Air is that anything can go wrong while the drone is delivering a package. it could be shot down, it can take the package to the wrong address, it can stop working out of no where, and the list goes on and on. Hopefully when Prime Air comes out no one will have to go through that trouble.
Re:funny by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-09 07:49 · Score: 0

1. This technology
2. Drone capable of capturing other drones in flight
3. Arrrr!
This comment is funny because i think that people would steal the drones when they will be flying like pirates.
its no something good that would happen .
bloop by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-09 09:33 · Score: 0

That would be cool but at the same time it will be bad for some people. People who work for ups and fedex and stuff will lose their jobs. However, i would like to see that happen. I guess of course this would have happened sooner or later. I wonder if they will actually succeed in accomplishing this.