Cool but I can't understand why you'd need such a delivery system? MAYBE you can imagine a scenario where you need to air lift a vial of snake anti-venom very quickly but that's a fantastical, far edge-case. Theres simply no reason that an auto-automobile can't handle 99% of deliveries.
Drones can't go that far.
They can only carry tiny payloads.
They use a ton of energy just to hover.
And lastly- they are much more dangerous than ground-based transport, for the simple reason that _they can fall from the sky_.
Whats to be gained by putting deliveries in the air?
Sorry to be blunt, but you're speaking from ignorance. Take a look at statistics for cars and re-think your position on the relative safety of the two modes of transporting goods.
Zero traffic congestion, close to free to operate, fulfillment in minutes? Under 1 hour order delivery? There’s obviously downsides like sound and then falling out of the sky, but getting anything under 5 pounds two orders of magnitudes faster is a big deal.
If they tried to introduce cars now, there is no way they would get through. Because they are truly ridiculous and horrible. A million deaths around the world directly, and another million due to pollution? Imagine trying to convince everyone that was a good idea.
Compared to walking dozens of miles everywhere? Remember that the only existing modes of transportation were bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. The car absolutely needed to happen to aid our progress as a civilization.
Everything looks bad in hindsight right? But it is the car that enabled the progression that makes the car impractical.
I agree. This invention does nothing of real value. Perhaps it makes you life a bit more convenient but it's the difference between ordering a pizza in 30 minutes and ordering a pizza in 10 minutes. This can't enhance human well-being- it's simply a toy for rich techies who can afford to pay a premium to get their stuff all the faster.
I wish Mr Bezos would focus on something of real value- asteroid mining and transferal of polluting industries off-world.
Are you sure that the energy cost is lower for a delivery van? Fully loaded (though presumably uncommon for residential deliveries), a commercial van will carry 4 tons and have pretty poor gas mileage. Electric vans may help, but it's still quite a lot of weight to drive around.
The drones have no driver (thus lower margins and/or a richer Amazon, neither of which are necessarily good for inequality, though it does free up more humanity from mundane tasks like delivering parcels), and can be loaded quickly and automatically. The article mentions they can carry 5 lbs, which I suspect is enough to carry a few deliveries at once. As the article mentions, 80% of their sales are less than 5 lbs.
All that said, the noise pollution is going to be horrendous. The visual pollution I don't mind so much, as it _may_ allow cities to lower the number of cars on the road (fewer people driving to run errands), though it's definitely going to feel creepy and dystopian, especially if Amazon are the only ones running these things and there isn't _extremely_ strong privacy oversight.
Drones can't go that far. They can only carry tiny payloads. They use a ton of energy just to hover. And lastly- they are much more dangerous than ground-based transport, for the simple reason that _they can fall from the sky_.
Whats to be gained by putting deliveries in the air?