Route 66
Slapped Upside-da-Head Member
oh, folks have long since gotten used to Ground doing that sort of stuff already....it'll seem like just another ordinary day.
Amazon and "60 Minutes"
- Thread starter vantexan
- Start date
they already have robots. Us
upschuck
Well-Known Member
My wife thought, when she was a kid, that the UPS driver only worked at Christmas time to help with presents.
rod
Retired 22 years
From what I see Amazon would have to be watching with a drone mounted camera to make sure they don't land on something they aren't suppose to. Just what we need---more eyes watching us. I will be waiting for that first drone delivery----I will give them an eye full. It could even be Amazons first moon landing.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
No, and delivering package with drones is patently ridiculous. Potential liabilities would be huge. Accidents with vehicles, hitting pedestrians, startling people into falls or heart attacks, phone and electrical lines...the list is endless. Once Bezos pulls his head out of his ass and starts talking to his lawyers, he'll figure it out. Or...maybe he's just baiting the carriers who currently serve Amazon.
From the sound of it Bezos was saying that they have to get FAA rules worked out and get any issues like not landing on someone's head resolved. If it's viable they can get Congressional backing with the right incentives, i.e. cash. If things can be delivered in 30 minutes it will revolutionize shopping. Think of the last minute shopping hassles people go through for holidays and birthdays. Going camping and need a certain item? It's on it's way. The possibilities are endless. Is Fred S reducing Express to make more money with Ground? Think what Amazon will do to Express if people don't have to pay big money to get it overnight?
You think he didn't talk to his lawyers before going on "60 Minutes?" Before developing the system in the first place? Obviously there are things too heavy for such a device to carry, assuming they won't make bigger ones. But think about how light many Amazon pkgs are that FedEx delivers. Obviously for such deliveries to be made people will have to sign up for the service and provide an open area in their yards, etc for it to land. Which means not everyone will be able to take advantage of such a service. Most likely a rep from Amazon will have to come by and take pics and have customer sign releases, etc.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
Here's a very simple issue...noise. I seriously doubt that anyone is going to put up with drones flying through their neighborhood. This kind of stuff will be a dream come true for the lawyers.
In this post MFE hits everything to a tee. This is dumber than Walmart wanting to use customers to home deliver other customers goods. I'm sure they've all dreampt this, but it's just no feasible on so many levels and the only thing that makes sense is baiting the carriers but they would have to be stupid to fall for this ploy. This maybe could happen in a country where they have their people living in fear. But power lines, theft, shooting them down even would occur in the U.S. It also demonstrates what Amazon thinks of paying drivers.
It's just crazy to put much thought into it. Could it even work in big cities? How can they fly between building? How do you get to floor 10? You also can't be too far out, I assume these are electric. They mentioned a limit of 5-6 lbs. What happens when I order 10 things at once, an army of drones happen? I already wasted too much time on this one. LOL
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
Is it just me or did anyone else think Bezos looked and sound diabolical? Amazon sounds like they want to take over the world. Amazon becoming a competitor of FedEx and UPS in 5 years is more plausible than this stupid drone idea.
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Just like Walmart? Take over all the retail box stores. You can only undercut the competition for so long. then you need to make a profit!...DHL ring a bell??
oldngray
nowhere special
Have an army of $1000 drones to deliver $10 packages. People would quickly be hijacking those drones not to mention all of the lost/stole packages and liability of using drones. Never work in the real work economically (not this century at least). I think it was just Bezos trying to create buzz to draw attention to Amazon and media jumped on his bandwagon.
They aren't that noisy. Won't work in every scenario but delivering to suburbia? Keep them high enough to clear power lines and trees. People used to shout "get a horse!" when cars first came out. Again, don't see it feasible for every scenario, but it could definitely work for a large segment of their customer base. The savings will offset the cost, and keep customers coming back to their website.
Throw in wind, rain and snow... It will work in one place, in the Arizona desert, if that isn't to far away from the Distro.
but it could definitely work for a large segment of their customer base
I would say for an extremely small segment of their customer base. Way too many variables.
but it could definitely work for a large segment of their customer base
I would say for an extremely small segment of their customer base. Way too many variables.
