Robot Delivery Vans Are Arriving Before Self-Driving Cars (bloomberg.com)

The future of driverless driving looks like a giant toaster with a funny hat. From a report: That's an approximation of a new autonomous vehicle unveiled Tuesday by Nuro, a Silicon Valley startup that's been cryptic about its business plan since it launched about 18 months ago. Nuro's shiny, minimalist appliance on wheels doesn't have doors or windows to speak of, because it will be carrying packages -- not people. As every major automaker and dozens of tech companies race to replace drivers in Uber cars and taxi fleets, Nuro is ignoring humans altogether and steering for Amazon.com, United Parcel Service and any retailer looking to build its e-commerce business.

Comments

Re:Most packages are delivered during the day

[Hadlock]

Time not spent driving to the store, finding parking, walking in to the store, trying to find it, price-compare on your phone, walking to the register, dealing with the cashier, payment details, bag, reciept, walk back out to the car, drive home, unload the crap, finally you get to use it? Average trip to walmart down the street is about 1 hour for 5-10 items. You end up paying more for the convenience of it being so close.
 
Vs the time of "oh i need this" then you add it to your cart, and when you have $35 worth of stuff you click "buy" and 1-2 days later it shows up at your house. I spend a lot more time riding my bike around the lake rather than in a dumpy old store as a result. 100 years ago you would place an order with the guy with the truck/wagon, and a couple weeks later had all your goods delivered to your door. They would even extend you credit if you were a regular customer. This isn't a new concept it's just way more convenient. We go look at shops when on vacation, but other than perishables like eggs, dairy, vegetables everything just gets delivered to the house. Especially in dense urban areas where getting to the parking garage, driving across town and then spending 45 minutes looking for parking at the shops is absolute murder. No thanks. Saving $5 vs buying it on Amazon, walmart.com, target.com etc etc ad nauseam, is well worth it to my blood pressure and long term health.