Amazon toying with Drones

[Muskie]

Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/amazon-prime-air-delivery-drones_n_4369685.html)

Prime Air was unveiled to Rose and "60 Minutes" as a surprise, the secret project being part of Amazon's busy R&D department. The drones will be capable of delivering items up to 5 pounds in weight, which Bezos said account for 86 percent of the items that Amazon delivers. Individual items will be flown from one of the company's 96 mind-bogglingly massive warehouses (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/amazon-warehouse-photos_n_2238828.html), also known as "fulfillment centers."

_________
Not entirely impressed with the idea... but the interview is fascinating in some respects. Drone can carry up to 5 lbs, which meets 86% of Amazon's daily shipping needs. I found that intriguing. Also 10 mile radius from a fulfillment center. So to be of any use Amazon is going to need more localized fulfillment centers (does that mean more warehouses locally and more jobs?).

[Muskie]

Here is the 60 Minutes Piece:

http://youtu.be/98BIu9dpwHU

[Caveat]

That's mildly terrifying.

[BBC 08]

One of my favorite economist went off on this last night, and I actually agree with him.

umair haque ‏@umairh 13h
Drone deliveries are not "innovation". They are fucking stupid in a country that needs healthcare, transport, and jobs.

umair haque ‏@umairh 12h
We have: broken democracies, a warming planet, stagnant economies, ruined societies, poisonous banks. And we get...McDronazon.

[Kahns Krazy]

I disagree. Amazon is a freaking amazing model. I applaud them for continuing to push the definition of what is possible in logistics. Think of how many miles are driven for errands in a 10 mile radius. An economical, manageable drone system could be flat out transformative for local commerce and transportation.

If Amazon can prove the concept and make it economically viable, there is benefit to be had in the public sector as well. The government runs lots of inefficient programs because logistics are a problem. What if instead of food stamps that could be sold on the street for drugs and booze, eligible families got a daily delivery of healthy fresh food from a drone?

As for the clever tweets, Amazon can't do shit about any of those things. Why even bring that up? "Economists" are the absolute worst at actually contributing anything. They are good for tweeting. What has Umair done about global warming this week?

[boozehound]

That seems crazy futuristic. I wonder if they would need FAA clearance for something like that?

It definitely seems a little 'big brother' or like something out of a B-movie though.

[RealDeal]

Will they be armed? I'm stealing one.

[waggy]

Can they be used for target practice with a shotgun?

[xudash]

One of my favorite economist went off on this last night, and I actually agree with him.

umair haque ‏@umairh 13h
Drone deliveries are not "innovation". They are fucking stupid in a country that needs healthcare, transport, and jobs.

umair haque ‏@umairh 12h
We have: broken democracies, a warming planet, stagnant economies, ruined societies, poisonous banks. And we get...McDronazon.

Your favorite economist embarrassed himself.

The drone delivery system is innovation within Bezos' world at Amazon. It isn't Bezos' job to fix any of the things the economist mentioned.

Now, hopefully, at some point, Jeff Bezos turns his creative mind onto some of the world's issues, but his present responsibilities are his shareholders, employees and customers.

[xudash]

That seems crazy futuristic. I wonder if they would need FAA clearance for something like that?

It definitely seems a little 'big brother' or like something out of a B-movie though.

They need FAA clearance. He mentioned that last night. That hurdle is expected to be cleared in 2015.

[paulxu]

Can they be used for target practice with a shotgun?

skeet!

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/06/want-a-license-to-hunt-drones-this-colorado-town-just-might-give-you-one/

[chico]

What's the old saying about rich economists?

Anyway, I think it's a pretty interesting idea. If/when they do get FAA clearance, I wonder what can of worms it opens up for future companies wanting to do the same thing.

[Jumpy]

Your favorite economist embarrassed himself.

The drone delivery system is innovation within Bezos' world at Amazon. It isn't Bezos' job to fix any of the things the economist mentioned.

Now, hopefully, at some point, Jeff Bezos turns his creative mind onto some of the world's issues, but his present responsibilities are his shareholders, employees and customers.

Agreed. The fact that these problems exist does not preclude anyone from working on other issues. These drones will do lots in logistical savings to improve in other areas. If they can figure out a way to fully power them with renewable energy, all the better.

Anyway, this idea actually isn't new. A Chinese delivery company called SF Express has apparently been delivering packages via drone for the past few months. They are still in the experimentation phase and haven't gone large scale yet, but the Chinese have definitely beaten us to the punch. (http://qz.com/120654/china-could-become-the-first-country-to-legalize-parcel-delivery-by-drone/)

[sirthought]

It's hard to say at this stage whether I'd be for this or not. Yes, it is innovation, but there are all kinds of sticky problems that could arise that ask, "do we even want to go there?"

- What companies will/won't have the right to deliver via drone? What are the barriers for entry and how many do we allow? Is it only for the Amazons (large suppliers) of the world or can anyone start offering transport service with a drone system?
- Will we require some sort of air traffic control? Having a busy neighborhood or large company that has a lot of deliveries could mean multiple drones flying in the same area every day, setting up potential disasters.
- obvious concerns about privacy, safety and noise. No one wants to worry about a camera passing overhead while their neighbor's Amazon package is flying by. They may tell us there are no cameras, but it would be a hard thing to control once this became common practice.
- What if bandits start to try to steal the drones or the cargo? Delivering goods with an unmanned vehicle could get expensive. I can see some 16 year old trying to hack into a satellite to reroute a delivery path just to see if they can do it.

Innovation is a difficult thing to hold back, so I imagine this will happen. It'll be interesting to see which happens first: deliveries by drones or unmanned cars (the technology Google has been developing). Either way some schmuck who could only hope to be a delivery driver is out of a job.

[ammtd34]

Bezos admitted that it was years away and he seemed to have many of the same concerns. They're not going to launch these things without having all those answers. Since they will be regulated by the FAA, I'd imagine that the penalty for interfering with a delivery would be pretty steep.

[paulxu]

What if bandits start to try to steal the drones or the cargo? Delivering goods with an unmanned vehicle could get expensive. I can see some 16 year old trying to hack into a satellite to reroute a delivery path just to see if they can do it.

Would this be like the Xbox type games that kids play now?
You could have your own big drone, and when you see one of the Amazon babies come by, just swoop in and grab it out of the sky.

[Masterofreality]

Can they be used for target practice with a shotgun?



- What if bandits start to try to steal the drones or the cargo? .

One of the greatest tweets ever from an anonymous Tweep- "It's a lot cooler to have your stuff shot down than to have it ripped off your front porch"

[xudash]

One of the greatest tweets ever from an anonymous Tweep- "It's a lot cooler to have your stuff shot down than to have it ripped off your front porch"

Reading that was a coffee-spitting moment.

[sirthought]

UPS, not wanting Amazon to get all the glory, raises its hand and states the obvious.

UPS researching its own delivery drones to compete with Amazon's Prime Air (http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/3/5169878/ups-is-researching-its-own-delivery-drones-to-compete-with-amazons)

What the article states is exactly what we discussed at my house as the 60 Minutes piece aired...this was just a great PR move by Amazon for holidays. No one is going to see these drones for a long while, at least not commercially on a mass scale.

[XU-PA]

the interesting thing to me, being a former newsie, who does Bezos own at CBS? He got the most respected news program, 60 Minutes, to sell out a complete segment on a "i want to do this" news release for Amazon which is I guess one of the worlds biggest online sellers, on the eve of cyber monday the biggest online sales day, then massive chunks of the morning news was given to Amazon on Monday, and more massive chunks on tuesday morning about Amazon's new online TV drama.

OK, the whole thing is a talker, but is it really really that big a news story? So big that CBS would agree to embargo any mention of it from the moment they did the story till the eve of cyber monday? News ain't what it used to be.

[GoMuskies]

60 Minutes is certainly not THE most respected news program. Particularly right now in light of their butchering of the Benghazi story.

[Masterofreality]

the interesting thing to me, being a former newsie, who does Bezos own at CBS? He got the most respected news program, 60 Minutes, to sell out a complete segment on a "i want to do this" news release for Amazon which is I guess one of the worlds biggest online sellers, on the eve of cyber monday the biggest online sales day, then massive chunks of the morning news was given to Amazon on Monday, and more massive chunks on tuesday morning about Amazon's new online TV drama.

OK, the whole thing is a talker, but is it really really that big a news story? So big that CBS would agree to embargo any mention of it from the moment they did the story till the eve of cyber monday? News ain't what it used to be.

This. Bezos is pretty incredible that his company's stock is over $340 a share, but it has never made a profit. Some would call that shystering.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/25/amazon-stock-may-be-up-but-the-company-still-doesn-t-make-any-money.html

[GoMuskies]

I'm no financial genius, but I'm looking at the Amazon 10-K, and it sure looks like they made a total of $2.8 billion in profit in the last three fiscal years.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000119312512032846/d269317d10k.htm

[Kahns Krazy]

This. Bezos is pretty incredible that his company's stock is over $340 a share, but it has never made a profit. Some would call that shystering.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/25/amazon-stock-may-be-up-but-the-company-still-doesn-t-make-any-money.html

That article is written for morons. Can you explain to me how a company that has "never made a profit" has $1.9 billion of retained earnings on the balance sheet?

Edit: Or what Go said.

[sirthought]

Link (http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/251833649/faa-to-pick-sites-soon-for-commercial-drone-testing) at NPR


FAA To Soon Pick Sites For Commercial Drone Testing

Before the end of the year, the federal government will select six states where drone makers can test how to safely integrate the technology into commercial airspace. Nevada is vying for one of the spots. The FAA stamp of approval could lure big industry to high-end test sites. But smaller drone developers, who're focused on non-military applications, also see enormous opportunities.

[GoMuskies]

Nevada is vying for one of the spots.

Coming soon to LV: hooker direct to your hotel room by drone.