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Amazon Promised Drone Delivery In Five Years Five Years Ago (apnews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the broken-promises dept.

On December 1, 2013, Amazon announced its plans to deliver packages by drone in just "four or five years" on a 60 Minutes episode with then-host Charlie Rose. As The Associated Press reports, it's officially been five years and drone deliveries seem to be nowhere in sight. "Bezos made billions of dollars by transforming the retail sector," reports The Associated Press. "But overcoming the regulatory hurdles and safety issues posed by drones appears to be a challenge even for the world's wealthiest man." From the report: The day may not be far off when drones will carry medicine to people in rural or remote areas, but the marketing hype around instant delivery of consumer goods looks more and more like just that -- hype. Drones have a short battery life, and privacy concerns can be a hindrance, too. Amazon says it is still pushing ahead with plans to use drones for quick deliveries, though the company is staying away from fixed timelines. "We are committed to making our goal of delivering packages by drones in 30 minutes or less a reality," says Amazon spokeswoman Kristen Kish. The Seattle-based online retail giant says it has drone development centers in the United States, Austria, France, Israel and the United Kingdom.

2 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Well by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "60 Minutes episode with then-host Charlie Rose. As The Associated Press reports, it's officially been five years and drone deliveries seem to be nowhere in sight. "

    Charlie Rose is not in sight anywhere either.

  2. It is regulation... by mi · · Score: 1, Informative

    Regulatory problems aren't a reason

    They are. As I said already, FAA bans drone-operation outside of the operator's line of sight. One may ask for a waiver, but 99% of such requests are rejected.

    When the technology is ready and benefit is clear

    Driverless cars are both harder to program and inherently more dangerous, should the programming fail. Yet, robotic taxis are already in operation — in places, quoth the article: "chosen deliberately for its friendliness to driverless cars" — while the federally-regulated delivery drones remain firmly in the future.

    Government is an impediment to progress, and this cases demonstrates it more clearly than most...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.