Why Bhutan Might Get Drone Delivery Copters Before Seattle Does

From Quartz comes the story of a Silicon Valley start-up trying to kickstart a delivery system using package-laden drones to overfly gridlocked traffic — in Bhutan. Bhutanese roads are slow, the weather can be brutal, and there are very few physicians to go around. That’s why, earlier this year, the Bhutanese government and the World Health Organization reached out to Matternet, a Palo Alto company backed by some big name American investors that develops transportation networks using unmanned aerial vehicles to reach hard-to-access places. ... The project in Bhutan, however, is the first big test for the startup. Matternet is aiming to build a network of low-cost quadcopters to connect the country’s main hospitals with rural communities. Matternet uses small quadcopters that can carry loads of about four pounds across 20 km at a time, to and from pre-designated landing stations. The company is able to track these flights in real-time, and aims to eventually deploy fully-automated landing stations that replace drone batteries, giving them extended range and flight time. The drones it uses typically cost between $2,000-5,000.

Comments

Re:People steal WIRE

[i kan reed]

Yeah, you're stupid as all hell. People in Bhutan aren't doing fine in the absence of evil western consumerism(which I don't even like). That's just silly.

From wikipedia
Population below poverty line
        31.7% (2003)

There's no fucking elitism in the seeing the fact that a huge swath of the country isn't doing so hot, and guessing that people who aren't doing so hot might be looking to support themselves.

I'm glad you're peddling that colonialist "noble savage" bullshit though. I'm sure that's helping someone.