You’re asking the wrong guy… you should ask the NSA… they have the Drones already and they know where you live… It’s a perfect set up for a Drone Delivery System… They even keep watch on your bank account, so you don’t over draw… Aren’t they nice?
Maybe drones would be useful aboard individual trucks so delivery personnel can “hop” fences (or given a delivery option, drop off at a back door for safety), but most packages are just too large for drone service at this time.
They’re not comparing Santa to a drone, he’s a “plausibility expert.” As in, drone delivery is not even in the realm of plausibility. Because the software is not sophisticated enough to do things solo, so you need living people piloting them, one at a time, which in turn costs more than just using delivery people.
The Amazon drone story is like the Popular Science magazine article in the ’60s; inferring that there would be personal flying cars with removable wings by the ’90s.
Radical-Knight: The Waterman Aeromobile was licensed in the late 1930s. I have seen a complete one in the Smithsonian collection and the land part in a museum just south of Fort Worth. Because it had three wheels instead of four, the land part was licensed as a motorcycle instead of a car.
If UPS and FedEx had to deliver first class mail and junk mail, also, they would go out of business in a year. Neither one of them is half as good as The U.S. Postal Service.
The pilot’s license is part of the problem, but not the only problem – only a tiny percentage of the people with a pilot license ever bought any of the various flying car models. The more difficult problem is physics; a convertible aircraft/car has too many parts that are only useful in one role, but have to be dragged along while in the other role. E.g., wings and tail might fold up into a bulky trailer, which is towed behind the cabin/car, which is tiny for a car, and probably doesn’t meet federal crash safety standards for cars… All the flying cars I’ve seen on the market have been low-performance airplanes, which can land only at airports, and then fold up into something that may be street-legal (aside from crash safety) but would be damned difficult to drive in heavy traffic, or to park downtown.
edclectic over 10 years ago
Fahgeddaboutit…
wrwallaceii over 10 years ago
You’re asking the wrong guy… you should ask the NSA… they have the Drones already and they know where you live… It’s a perfect set up for a Drone Delivery System… They even keep watch on your bank account, so you don’t over draw… Aren’t they nice?
KenTheCoffinDweller over 10 years ago
No, but the next “Direct” delivery will be for you wherever you might be.
JoeStoppinghem Premium Member over 10 years ago
Not going to happen, that story was just free pub for Amazon.,Also I like this guy’s idea:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427933,00.asp.
Linguist over 10 years ago
The only droning going on, is from the meeting moderator.
Varnes over 10 years ago
Joe, that’s funny, a zombi drone air force….Awesome! Pretty sure Hitchcock could do something with that!
Varnes over 10 years ago
Well, except
he’s dead….
Varnes over 10 years ago
But other than that, two words: Target practice…
Meh~tdology, fka Pepelaputr over 10 years ago
Maybe drones would be useful aboard individual trucks so delivery personnel can “hop” fences (or given a delivery option, drop off at a back door for safety), but most packages are just too large for drone service at this time.
JohnHerbison over 10 years ago
Do you know why Santa is always jolly? Because he knows where the naughty girls live.
Ernest Lemmingway over 10 years ago
They’re not comparing Santa to a drone, he’s a “plausibility expert.” As in, drone delivery is not even in the realm of plausibility. Because the software is not sophisticated enough to do things solo, so you need living people piloting them, one at a time, which in turn costs more than just using delivery people.
dabugger over 10 years ago
putting us on…get a life…
Radical-Knight over 10 years ago
The Amazon drone story is like the Popular Science magazine article in the ’60s; inferring that there would be personal flying cars with removable wings by the ’90s.
hippogriff over 10 years ago
Radical-Knight: The Waterman Aeromobile was licensed in the late 1930s. I have seen a complete one in the Smithsonian collection and the land part in a museum just south of Fort Worth. Because it had three wheels instead of four, the land part was licensed as a motorcycle instead of a car.
Caddy57 over 10 years ago
Is there an “Insanity Clause” in the contract? I just gotta know!
Varnes over 10 years ago
If UPS and FedEx had to deliver first class mail and junk mail, also, they would go out of business in a year. Neither one of them is half as good as The U.S. Postal Service.
markmoss1 over 10 years ago
The pilot’s license is part of the problem, but not the only problem – only a tiny percentage of the people with a pilot license ever bought any of the various flying car models. The more difficult problem is physics; a convertible aircraft/car has too many parts that are only useful in one role, but have to be dragged along while in the other role. E.g., wings and tail might fold up into a bulky trailer, which is towed behind the cabin/car, which is tiny for a car, and probably doesn’t meet federal crash safety standards for cars… All the flying cars I’ve seen on the market have been low-performance airplanes, which can land only at airports, and then fold up into something that may be street-legal (aside from crash safety) but would be damned difficult to drive in heavy traffic, or to park downtown.
loner34 over 10 years ago
ask Amazon, they are working on it.