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Amazon Promised Drone Delivery In Five Years Five Years Ago (apnews.com)
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.
We're also approaching the year when we were promised self-driving cars. 2018, or ~2017, or 2018. It's going to be a few years of failed predictions.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I can get stuff to my door in two-hours (one hour if I pay extra). That is drone delivery. Similarly, Uber and Lyft already supply on-demand self-driving cars. I mean, sure they can use tech to get people out of the loop, but as a consumer, I don't really care. Do you?
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That has nothing to do with Amazon using drones. Amazon doesn't use drones because it wouldn't work and is a stupid idea. The technology isn't there.