WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec. 3  (DPI) – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled his latest big idea – the use of drone mini-copters to deliver small packages – on a “60 Minutes” segment Sunday night. But viewers and readers generally dismissed the notion as misguided, job-killing,  and suggestive of a grim dystopian future. Many too saw the report as little more than a publicity stunt enabled by CBS News.

Readers on cbsnews.com, wsj.com and nytimes.com all were nearly universal in their views that using drones to deliver packages was impractical. Beyond that, many saw the entire television report as “a commercial for Amazon.”

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/amazon-floats-the-notion-of-delivery-drones/

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Excellent idea, and another step towards making most workers redundant….one of many.
The list: Robotics innovations for replacing service skills; computer software that do many of the tasks of lawyers, pharmacists and other professionals; laser machines that can be programmed to build an assortment of items, from toothbrushes to t-shirts…
Technology will replace many, if not most, workers and create a huge number of permanently unemployed citizens.

As a society we will have to face the choice between:
1) A Scandinavian style social welfare system with complete safety net for all the millions who will be without work, or
2) Become a police state to manage the social turmoil that will be created by such mass un and under-employment and its ensuing wealth inequality.
Pick one….

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I just saw this segment on 60 minutes, and thought it was one of the most ridiculous ideas I’d ever seen. I mean . . . what is the point? To unemploy all the conventional delivery people? To eliminate any wait time, so as to instill a mindset into people that everything can be instantaneous? Just what an already growingly impatient world needs – more validation of an otherwise self-destructive tendency.

The boys with their billions of dollars really need to grow out of their adolescent obsession with mechanical toys, and start considering what’s best for everyone, rather than reveling in their own self indulgences.

Unless there are living organs for transplantation in those Amazon boxes, would it kill anyone to have to wait a couple of days for it to come Fed-X or UPS?

Or maybe this is a preview of where Amazon sees itself gearing up for – selling living organs. Fitting, for a company that prides itself as the source for literally everything on earth.

Next they’ll introduce us to the Amazon zombies, who go out at night to reap the organs for sale the next day. No reason to have those drones flying home empty – reformat them to work like vultures, as well.

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I see some really serious problems–beginning with how many of these things will get destroyed by weather, get lost, batteries run out in flight, get shot down, etc. I would estimate 20% losses, based on unit or battery failure, alone. Then there is the matter of overhead–it would be a lot cheaper to farm it out to UPS or Fed/Ex, they have a lot more experience with aircraft and their primary business is shipping.

You know people are going to call in deliveries, just to screw with them; this and birdshot would be so much fun. Or steal them. I guarantee Bezos will make the consumer responsible for getting the drone back to them.

All you have to do is follow them and anything you want is yours.

Single unit delivery will make it really expensive. Probably more than expensive than a lot of the items people buy. I don’t understand how this could be practical. Probably another publicity stunt.

 

Yeah, Jeff. Great idea. I live in Los Angeles, and in addition to taking away the current delivery jobs, I can imagine thousands of drones buzzing around the city so that people don’t have to wait more than 30 minutes to get their consumer fix (if Amazon does it, every other company will).

I can’t wait to be quietly relaxing in my back yard with drones whizzing by polluting the sky and checking me out as well as my formerly private space with their on-board cameras. Maybe they’ll notice I need a new barbecue grill or some new lounge wear and they can drop little coupons for discounts.

What a trivial, ugly vison of the future. I know the tech boys are fascinated by such things but can they really not think about how this will affect society and privacy?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/01/amazons-bezos-shows-flying-drones-for-package-delivery/tab/comments/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazons-jeff-bezos-looks-to-the-future/