Comforting thought.

Keep one eye on the sky!!

Do they have to avoid lass B and C air spaces? Actually, that shouldn't be too hard.

Do they have TCAS?

How do the little yellow boxes get back?

I was wondering if they can (will) land in minimums? Seriously they would have to avoid the approaches to small airports especially uncontrolled airports.

My first question as well!!!

I imagine they'd have to go with some sort of weather resistant and sturdy cardboard model once they get rolling--that plastic thing just isn't cutting it.

I imagine they're using the plastic for test purposes; it's expensive to create machinery to fashion a cardboard box; perhaps they're trying to decide what the thing will look like before they invest in that kind of equipment...?

What a wild world we live in....!

You use snailmail.

i predict that the sheer cost of the drones will prohibit mass landings, Perhaps dropping a package containing a book on a lawn from 10 feet?

PB

I was a kid with a pellet gun, and that's what I'd do.

I agree. There's no way that this could actually work.

authorize such a service.

UAV's and the regulations for them are already being worked out

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/

We're gonna have drones delivering pesticides to farm fields. Delivering cross country cargo for fedex and a million other uses. Drones will be air and land based.

People need to understand this along with 3D printing is revolutionary and will turn the world we know today upside down.

One thing to note about the test amazon drones is that since they are so small they likely fall under the RC rules under the FAA.

their usage in urban areas for delivering packages at all.

Early speed limits were set at 8-12 mph. Technology moves on. It won't be stopped.

In other words the future doesnt always turn out he way we imagine it will.

they better drop these best selling books from like 15-20 ft

People will do things to machines they would never do to manned vehicles. Watch as the ZIP codes to which these deliveries are offered shrink to include mostly gated suburban communities and the roofs of tony high rise apartment buildings. There will be videos uploaded of drone takedowns just like FSA posts their SAA shootdowns. Fear that commercial drones are also spydrones.

But in time drones will just become part of the background, the tech will move downmarket, and convenience stores will deliver a bag of Doritos and a Pepsi for an additional fee. And there will be spydrones. Meh.

amazon better find a way to deploy anti aircraft defense against bb's and shotguns

*blam**blam**blam*

Look it done birthed a Joel Osteen book just before it died

insurance nightmare

Now the package thieves won't have to follow the UPS driver of letter carrier to steal the packages off the porch right after delivery. They can sit on a side street with a pellet gun and collect packages and a bunch of RC electronics!

Or they'll follow the damn thing and collect the package after it's dropped off because those drones sure can't put it on a porch out of sight like the delivery people do.

There's got to be a lot more thinking on this.

Next!

So said Mr. James Hanson of the Post Office when the first automobile was engaged to be used...

However, I'm quite certain you have much faith in your own premise.

that will drop a pile of manure on my old employer that moved my job to China.

And then quickly fly off into the night.

Okay?

War of the Drones.

I hope Amazon has enough influence to stamp out the loudmouthed Luddites.

Will they pick them back up?

Actually gave credit the the organization they plagiarized from!


HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!

I want jets on my Amazon or Pizza drone so I can get it quicker. Maybe even wait for warp drive.

Now I ask you:

Do these things work in the snow or rain or heat or gloom of night which would stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds?

The USPS is suppose to deliver mail no matter what the weather is. Can't see these flimsy drones delivering main in a rain or snow storm.

But at least we would have the option to receive our orders almost instantly on sunny days.

Besides, UPS and FedEx have sometimes horrible drivers. Several times I had my packages sent back because the fed ex driver supposedly "couldn't find the address". Yah right!

got caught in a Kansas tornado and ended up in the Yukon."

This is a cool idea, don't get me wrong--but it's got so many inborn flaws that it's nearly unworkable.

The concept is for 30 minute delivery. They would need local warehouses. Since they may have lost the internet tax issue it might not be an issue.

Amazon already automates the location of inventory inside their warehouses. They are just automating the location of inventory outside their warehouses. From a technical perspective it's probably not far off.

for the little helicopter to bring daddy's birthday gift, we will have new owners of Amazon.

I'm sure they could build a Kindle to withstand those kind of g-forces.

Frankly I'm seeing a future where smart phones, tablets, and televisions are free.

It's the monthly service charges that will break you, and even if you never use them for paid content they'll pay back the cable/phone/mass-media corporation by spying on you.

after picked up my order?

Murica! Freedom! Shotguns! Yeah!!!!!!!

Great subject line

"'Cause I like ya party!" - Cal Naughton Jr.

Consequences for both.

Cheaper than it is now. No drivers or trucks to maintain.

though it wasn't really load. Still, I'm not a fan.

like delivering medical supplies to remote locations. In most places, it will probably result in air traffic jams.

On an unrelated note, here in the birthplace of Silicon Valley UPS sometimes uses bicycle-drawn carts to deliver small packages around the holidays. Whatever's efficient, I suppose.

Jeff Bezos's 'plan' for drone deliveries is little more than a publicity stunt – timed for the biggest online shopping day of the year

The future is here! Flying robots will, any second now, be delivering your Christmas books, DVDs and gadgets to your door within 30 minutes of you ordering them, thanks to a new initiative announced by Amazon on CBS News' 60 Minutes on Sunday.

It's a brave new world, a whole new paradigm. Or so you'd think if you read most of the breathless coverage about the announcement, which will only get worse: expect a torrent of turgid think-pieces in the next 48 hours about who's going to get "disrupted" as a result of this latest shake-up – and what it means for the US's already beleaguered postal service.

Here's the problem: it's all hot air and baloney. As Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO, acknowledged in the 60 Minutes segment, his plan to begin delivery by drone won't be enacted until around 2018 – and that's a hugely optimistic timeline.

Read the rest at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/amazon-drone-delivery-jeff-bezos-hype

.