Dear Apple Insider, please ban some of these users from posting. There are some real unproductive, backward thinking, dumb responses above.
Well, that's one way to handle people with opinions that aren't the same as yours - of course you'd have to stop calling it a *discussion* forum at that point, but what the heck, you'd be happy and no one would disagree with you. Sign me up.
Yes, the same arguments where made when coach drivers gave way to cars, when elevator operators gave way to buttons, when phone operators gave way to switch gear, when stock brokers gave way to online trading, and when bomber planes gave way to drones...get on the right side of history...or history will get on the right side of you.
Well some still like their meals prepared by a chef instead of getting food from a vending machine. Apple's brick and mortar stores still cater to customers with personal service. There are advantages to automation but good old fashion customer service is also appreciated. I just hope your job is not one of those that can be easily automated.
I have been involved with RC crafts for 30 years and drones for about 3...
I dont see this ever happening in major population centers and cities..
Maybe in some rural areas and farms...
Too many things can go wrong .
Very easy. The drone mothership parks in your neighborhood, and all ten drones deliver packages while the truck driver does other work. The drones return and on to the next. It's clear this is not just a pilot project, there are real advantages to it or tehy wouldn't do it.
Sounds stupid to me. I buy a lot of expensive stuff. I don't want a drone dropping it at my front door, no delivery signature, etc. Those drones probably cost as much as a small delivery vehicle anyway. Personally I'd much rather have a friendly, intelligent, courteous human deliver my purchases. That would also be better PR in my opinion. I thought the trend now days was quality and attention to detail, you know, the Apple way, not just tossing a package on your door step with a robot.
Most likely the delivery would be restricted to deliveries where the user will actually be present to collect the package once delivered. Still, the whole things seems a bit far fetched.
I have been involved with RC crafts for 30 years and drones for about 3...
I dont see this ever happening in major population centers and cities..
Maybe in some rural areas and farms...
Too many things can go wrong .
I imagine some people in the Middle East will be very relieved to read that.
How stupid are these comments? This echoes the first iPhone comments. Just because you don't have all the details you can't just dismiss this as "stupid" or "never gonna happen." This is very real and will be a standard in 10 years or less. The one thing people don't understand is that this is not for ALL packages, this is for small items and light items. Majority of shopping for clothes will be done online. Imagine if you can take out that 20% or so out of FedEx, UPS, Amazon's delivery headache. It's cheaper to do it with a plastic drone, even if it's for 20% of customers with perfect homes.
You forgot it will be limited to people living within 5-10 miles of a Amazon warehouse. So perhaps 0.1% of the population of the US. Might work better in parts of the world when the Amazon distribution centers are in high density areas.
Having worked in technology for the past 40 years, it is not the technology that is the issue here. It is the regulations. Getting FAA approval is only part of it, the rest is regulations from the Federal & State DOT's. Licensing every craft, every operator of that craft, insurance requirements, etc is the most difficult part of the whole exercise.
Thsi is not easy, nor cheap! Amazon will have to petition every state, to prove they can deliver just as good, if not better than the infrastructure in place, Crossing county lines is another issue, many states like Ohio will require Amazon to take the package out of state first, then bring it back, no direct delivery! Yes, that is correct, no direct delivery, even if it is a short distance across a county line.
Again, it is not the technology, it is the regulations that will make it nearly impossible for Amazon to compete against UPS & Fedex. The Post Office tried to compete and failed! Now all ground parcels are moved by UPS and air packages by Fedex for the post office.
Sure Amazon hire Ex-UPS executives. These people should be telling Amazon, you are in for a rough ride!! They know this isn't easy, nor cheap!
Comments
Thsi is not easy, nor cheap! Amazon will have to petition every state, to prove they can deliver just as good, if not better than the infrastructure in place, Crossing county lines is another issue, many states like Ohio will require Amazon to take the package out of state first, then bring it back, no direct delivery! Yes, that is correct, no direct delivery, even if it is a short distance across a county line.
Again, it is not the technology, it is the regulations that will make it nearly impossible for Amazon to compete against UPS & Fedex. The Post Office tried to compete and failed! Now all ground parcels are moved by UPS and air packages by Fedex for the post office.
Sure Amazon hire Ex-UPS executives. These people should be telling Amazon, you are in for a rough ride!! They know this isn't easy, nor cheap!