Amazon Prime Air

[sirmaru]

I just saw on "60 Minutes" that Amazon will soon be delivering products by DRONE. The label on one drone said "Amazon Prime Air."

I presume we will be paying more for Amazon Prime Air than for the regular Amazon Prime.

We could very well order a new Kindle at 11:00 AM and receive it at 1:00 PM the SAME DAY.

Jeff Bezos says it takes 2 years to get FAA approval so 2015 will be the earliest year for the new service.

Maybe they will be selling personal drones as well. Who knows?

[Jessica Lares]

Yeah, what's with everyone watching 60 Minutes tonight? I never watch it, except for tonight. LOL.

My brother and I were watching it, and we were very impressed. Although, he wants to know what's going to stop people from following them to someone's house and stealing the package?

[jgaiser]

Tell me this is a joke... It isn't the first of April and it's on Amazon's website.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011

but this is so far fetched as to be completely unbelievable.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Tell me this is a joke... It isn't the first of April and it's on Amazon's website.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011

but this is so far fetched as to be completely unbelievable.

This.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Tell me this is a joke...

Not a joke, but something way in the future if it ever happens. It did get them a spot on 60 minutes though and also has the internets in discussion mode, plus probably more coverage on other news broadcasts.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Not a joke, but something way in the future if it ever happens.

Is it possible? Sure. 2015? Never. 20 years from now? Maybe.

I still think someone at Amazon is pulling the Internet's chains.

[sirmaru]

Those Amazon Prime Air drones exist NOW. I saw them on "60 Minutes." Plus, they are NOT operated by humans. That beats our present NSA and CIA drones which do have human operators.

Bezos said they will be fully automated. The program showed one coming down from 2 miles up, notifying the homeowner by telephone who met it at his door.

That should put FEDEX and UPS OUT OF BUSINESS. Plus, without humans unemployment of truck drivers will soar.

Personally, I think SOME of us will be beta testing it NEXT YEAR. I also think Bezos will put pressure on the FAA to get approval in late 2014 just in time for next Christmas.

Next year's Kindle HDXY will probably control one's own delivery by signaling direct to the drone.

Right NOW the Kindle Fire HDX 2013 can get an immediate connection to a live human in a video on one's screen. The HDXY will probably connect direct to the drone and schedule a perfectly timed delivery - the package will not be dropped at the door until the homeowner can answer the door. Thus, it cannot be stolen as today's dropped packages can.

[frahse]

I expect my Amazon stock to go up some.

All this publicity!

[pholy]

Unless the FAA has changed the rules since I last flew a glider, anything over 2000' above ground near (25 nautical miles) a major airport needs a transponder, so waiting at 2 miles up won't happen. In addition, they will have limited battery power due to the weight of batteries. And crashing half way back is not an option...

It may be a while before this happens... IM(H?)O

[speakingtohe]

Thanks to sirmaru and jgaiser for the news and the link.

It is interesting but how practical?

How will they deliver to apartments and office buildings so the right person gets it. Perhaps they could land it on your balcony but how many office buildings have balconies?

Plus if it worked out as financially viable soon UPS etc would have them and the skies in major urban areas would be full of them.

I also think they could be hijacked and reprogrammed and used in a bad way, but maybe I am being paranoid

Helen

[fjtorres]

Far-fetched?
Maybe, but Amazon isn't the only outfit playing with delivery drones:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/18/te...-using-drones/

Australian textbook rental startup Zookal will begin utilizing drones to make its deliveries in Australia next year, with ambitions of bringing the unique, unmanned delivery method to U.S. customers by 2015.
The company says this marks the first commercial use of fully automated drones worldwide. It will fulfill deliveries in Sydney using six drones to start, dropping off textbook purchases at an outdoor location of the customer's choosing. To wipe away any potential privacy or surveillance fears, the drones aren't equipped with cameras.
Instead, built-in anti-collision technology keeps them clear of trees, buildings, birds, and other potential obstacles.

Both the location of the user and the drone's GPS coordinates are transmitted via a smartphone app, and Zookal claims deliveries can be completed in as little as two to three minutes once a drone takes flight.

Point to consider: Amazon owns an industrial robotics company, Kiva Systems.

Edit: Lewis Carroll came to mind:

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2823...six-impossible

"I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Count them, Alice. One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky.”

The first four are now known to be true.

[fjtorres]

There's also this, from Sept:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57...birthday-cake/

In China, robots can cook and serve food while serenading customers, are being built into a "million robot army" to revolutionize manufacturing, and are a cornerstone of youth education. So it would make sense that in the Chinese city of Dongguang aerial drones are now delivering packages.
Spotted in the city -- located in the southern province of Guangdong with a population of roughly 8 million -- by a Weibo user who posted the photos on the Chinese social network, the drones are eight-rotor helicopters, or octocoptors, operated by the delivery service SF Express, whose logo was conveniently plastered on the side of the drone. The company admitted to running trials of the service after media reports picked up on the photos.
Because it is only in the testing phase, SF Express drones are not in widespread deployment, yet. However, it's estimated by Chinese media reports that the octocoptor can fly roughly 328 feet in the air, deliver packages within two meters of customers, and withstand a load of approximately 6.5 pounds.

Yup, it really is the 21st century out there.

[xg4bx]

Other than a poison antidote, there isn't a single item that I'd need that quickly.

[Barty]

Drone delivery has been floating around for a while. Isn't there already a drone pizza delivery in the work? Technically, it's feasible now, unlike the fantasy that is Elon Musk's hyper loop. The problems are 1/ scaling and 2/ regulatory hurdle. Imagine having hundreds of thousands of these things whizzing around overhead. Accidents are bound to happen. Noise, nuisance, hacking, theft, terrorism. Good times.

Begun, the drone war has.

PS: like how dumb is CBS to give Bezos a free infomercial?

[tubemonkey]

The US has been delivering overseas packages by drone for some time now