These are the drones that will replace us

vantexan

Well-Known Member
I don't think we're going to see drones replace humans any time soon but I do think drones will be held over us as a bargaining chip to keep salaries down.
If Amazon can make it work for a large % of their shipments, could Verizon be far behind? Drones might not replace us, but if successful there will be less "us."
 

overflowed

Well-Known Member
If Amazon can make it work for a large % of their shipments, could Verizon be far behind? Drones might not replace us, but if successful there will be less "us."
You guys realize we've been driving the modern car since 1914? I'm going off of Ford's mass production. The modern car actually was produced way before that. Over a hundred years. Honestly, you are giving these idiots too much credit even talking about this. We will all be dead before we see any of this horsedung. You will never see this if you live outside a huge city, cause they will get shot down constantly. I would after a few beers.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
You guys realize we've been driving the modern car since 1914? I'm going off of Ford's mass production. The modern car actually was produced way before that. Over a hundred years. Honestly, you are giving these idiots too much credit even talking about this. We will all be dead before we see any of this horsedung. You will never see this if you live outside a huge city, cause they will get shot down constantly. I would after a few beers.
And when cars came on the scene they used to yell "Get a horse!" Look at how much technology has advanced in the last 100 years. I'm not saying they're going to completely replace us. But Amazon is building distribution centers in major metro areas everywhere. That's the majority of the country's population. In suburban areas, where it's illegal to discharge guns and there aren't skyscrapers everywhere, there should be a market for this. And they demonstrated on "60 Minutes" that they've got drones now that can accomplish a delivery. No one is talking about sending a drone 40 miles into the countryside. And this may be years away. But the potential is there.
 

overflowed

Well-Known Member
And when cars came on the scene they used to yell "Get a horse!" Look at how much technology has advanced in the last 100 years. I'm not saying they're going to completely replace us. But Amazon is building distribution centers in major metro areas everywhere. That's the majority of the country's population. In suburban areas, where it's illegal to discharge guns and there aren't skyscrapers everywhere, there should be a market for this. And they demonstrated on "60 Minutes" that they've got drones now that can accomplish a delivery. No one is talking about sending a drone 40 miles into the countryside. And this may be years away. But the potential is there.
Tech is there, I guarantee you it's not years away Van. Not to replace us at least, that's a long way off. If you have ever lived in a real city, not many people care if it's illegal to fire guns in its limits. Go to the nearest one by you and roll through a really bad neighborhood. The streetlights are shot out. Bored kids are bored kids Van. Or criminals like it dark. Choose whichever you like. Another tidbit to ponder. About 60% of the worlds population doesn't have internet access and 45% don't even have electricity, and you seriously are worrying about robots taking our jobs anytime soon? You my friend have lost the marbles somewhere on your route. Can you even imagine not having internet access, cause I certainly can. Would be a very boring place.
 
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vantexan

Well-Known Member
Tech is there, I guarantee you it's not years away Van. If you have ever lived in a real city, not many people care if it's illegal to fire guns in its limits. Go to the nearest one by you and roll threw a really bad neighborhood. The streetlights are shot out. Bored kids are bored kids Van. Or criminals like it dark. Choose whichever you like.
I've lived in Seattle and near NYC. Not talking about the inner city or high crime areas. As I pointed out earlier, when a customer orders there will probably be a prompt saying that drone delivery is available for that address. I'm not talking about FedEx getting rid of us by using drones. I'm talking about a major company who's success hinges on lowering it's expenses. If drones will make that happen then they're going to do everything possible to make it work. That won't take away areas that aren't feasible from us, but every drone delivery is money in Amazon's pocket.
 

overflowed

Well-Known Member
Don't see it bud. Years away in government regs alone is 20 years at best for widespread city use. I think all this talk was for Amazon to make buzz. That's it. Too much liability for all this nonsense.
 

hypo hanna

Well-Known Member
With the way the middle class is shrinking, I don't see there being that much demand when the technology is ready.
Robots and drones don't order many books.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
Yeah we'll see how these drones do in adverse weather conditions. It's not always gonna be 68 degrees and plenty of sunshine.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
There won't be any real money savings to pay a "pilot" to fly one small piece at a time to any location. Just never gonna happen.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
There won't be any real money savings to pay a "pilot" to fly one small piece at a time to any location. Just never gonna happen.
I see this only happening in suburbs within a certain distance from the distribution center. And they aren't being controlled by guys in a room, they have GPS coordinates programmed and they fly themselves. And what can't be handled by the drones, assuming they get them approved by the FAA, will be handled by Amazon's own delivery drivers. Beyond the metro areas FedEx and UPS would take over. And most likely it'll be FedEx Ground that'll handle most of those shipments due to lower costs.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I see this only happening in suburbs within a certain distance from the distribution center. And they aren't being controlled by guys in a room, they have GPS coordinates programmed and they fly themselves. And what can't be handled by the drones, assuming they get them approved by the FAA, will be handled by Amazon's own delivery drivers. Beyond the metro areas FedEx and UPS would take over. And most likely it'll be FedEx Ground that'll handle most of those shipments due to lower costs.

This is a Bezos bargaining chip at the present time...nothing more. There have already been incidents where pilots have reported drones in prohibited airspace, and very few people are going to tolerate these things buzzing around their neighborhoods.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
This is a Bezos bargaining chip at the present time...nothing more. There have already been incidents where pilots have reported drones in prohibited airspace, and very few people are going to tolerate these things buzzing around their neighborhoods.
Have you seen the Amazon drones? They fly below 400 feet, and are pretty quiet. These aren't helicopters, pretty small. There's only so much of a discount FedEx can give them, it's about saving the actual shipping costs as much as possible.
 
How much will each drone cost? How often will they crash and lose packages? How often will they need to be serviced? What weight can they handle? How will they verify they are delivering to the correct recipient? What about apartments (being most densely populated areas are filled with more apartments than houses... drones can't open doors)?

Doesn't seem like this would be remotely close to cheaper or easier than just having a delivery driver, whether it be Amazon employed or UPS, FedEx, USPS.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
How much will each drone cost? How often will they crash and lose packages? How often will they need to be serviced? What weight can they handle? How will they verify they are delivering to the correct recipient? What about apartments (being most densely populated areas are filled with more apartments than houses... drones can't open doors)?

Doesn't seem like this would be remotely close to cheaper or easier than just having a delivery driver, whether it be Amazon employed or UPS, FedEx, USPS.
How much does it cost to hire, train, and retain a driver and buy and maintain his vehicle? I've pointed out repeatedly that not all addresses will be appropriate for a drone delivery. But we all have delivered a gazillion lightweight Amazon pkgs to houses in the 'burbs. Might be that Amazon will charge a premium for quick drone delivery. The rest will be delivered by their own dedicated drivers in metro areas. Outside of that would be delivered by other companies. Amazon doesn't have stores, everything is delivered. The surest way to profitability is to eliminate or reduce shipping charges. So this is a problem they will continue to attempt to solve.
 

It will be fine

Well-Known Member
How much does it cost to hire, train, and retain a driver and buy and maintain his vehicle? I've pointed out repeatedly that not all addresses will be appropriate for a drone delivery. But we all have delivered a gazillion lightweight Amazon pkgs to houses in the 'burbs. Might be that Amazon will charge a premium for quick drone delivery. The rest will be delivered by their own dedicated drivers in metro areas. Outside of that would be delivered by other companies. Amazon doesn't have stores, everything is delivered. The surest way to profitability is to eliminate or reduce shipping charges. So this is a problem they will continue to attempt to solve.

Good points. They could make same day deliveries much more realistic. Place order, pack it, dispatch a drone, delivery within 2 hours of order. It could easily be more cost effective to maintain drones over a workforce capable of that same service.
 
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