
Amazon Drones - 60 Minutes [video] - jonbaer
http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/jsew__gnI4_Lh_p4_Md6m1tw5mumYDuV/60-minutes-overtime-12-01-13/?nm
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peterwwillis
_" It seems to me they want to sell everything, to everybody, around the
world, as fast as possible."_ \--Charlie Rose

Holy hell. I can't think of anything scarier than the internet version of
WalMart controlling all of modern consumerism. (Except, of course, Amazon's
fingers reach into so many more digital pies than WalMart)

~~~
hhhhh
Walmart is totally fine. Who cares about it? Tons of people want to work there
tons of people want to shop there. Those people should shut the fuck up and if
you do neither why would you care?

It's just an easy target for people who want to misdiagnose a problem and
provide a solution that will make things worse.

~~~
derefr
> and if you do neither why would you care?

Because you run a business that Walmart is outcompeting? You have no
imagination if you can't come up with at least ten ways people could be being
negatively affected by Walmart outside of direct business interactions with
it.

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hhhhh
Well unless you for some reason think we shouldn't have competition in our
economy you didn't come up with 1 good one.

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nikatwork
Now if they can just build Amazon ICBM or Amazon Railgun for us international
customers, that would give a new meaning to "dropshipping".

~~~
jotm
Next up, Amazon Mass Driver - next day delivery to any continent and 7 day
delivery to the Moon!

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cannuck
yeah, but they still can't ship most stuff to Canada...

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zacharyz
I never saw that '99 special on Bezos. I was surprised to see how cheerful he
was at the time. He always seems so stern and serious these days - a man to be
feared and respected rather than mocked for being playful.

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vecinu
Absolutely. It was really interesting to see him in that kind of character,
you rarely get that kind of spontaneous reaction out of him nowadays.

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xfs
Drone delivery being developed in Shenzhen, China
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GDnFbTL5vc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GDnFbTL5vc)
(3 months ago)

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charlieflowers
I think maybe Santa Claus has had this technology for years ... it is the only
feasible way he could do what he does.

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ajtaylor
If you let it keep playing past the primary segment, they show an old segment
from 1999. The screenshots featured Netscape Navigator. Good times!

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dlgeek
I think this is my favorite (around 15:55):

Reporter: I think my generation grew up with Sears.

Some Wall Street Guy: And Amazon is worth 20% more than Sears is worth, in
market capitalization.

Reporter: How do you view that phenomenon, that Amazon today is worth more
than Sears?

WSG: Investors are focused on the future. Amazon has growth potential that
Sears doesn't.

Reporter: (Scoffing) A couple of geeks, who sketched out some software, could
destroy Sears-Roebuck?

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NovaS1X
I felt that the reporter had a hostile tone throughout the whole interview.
They way he scoffed at Jeff for driving a Honda as apposed to something like a
Mercedes or Bentley put me off.

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mariodiana
I don't mean to spoil the holidays with cynicism, but doesn't this seem more
like a publicity stunt to get Amazon even more in the minds of Christmas
shoppers than anything else? It would seem ludicrous if a UPS or FedEx truck
were making a trip to deliver one single package and then returning to home
base (with an empty truck on the way back) to make another special trip. The
whole business of delivery is built on carrying many packages and, if
possible, picking up as well as delivering.

I realize that little drones aren't the same thing as delivery trucks, but it
seems strange that the economics would be that much different. I'll believe it
when I see it.

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kennywinker
The economics ARE different. The costs associated with a delivery truck are 1)
gas 2) a driver 3) the truck. The drone has no driver, runs on electricity,
and could probably be made for a fair sight cheaper than a delivery van can.

I agree, announcing it now is probably a publicity stunt: look at the
theatrics in how they announced it. But that doesn't mean it isn't also the
future of delivery in some higher density areas.

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ilaksh
This technology is actually working today. They are waiting for the FAA.

If it takes 1 or 2 years to come up with rules for new technologies, that is
too long. What we actually need are functional peer-defined systems for
interoperation and safety. A set of immediately obsolete prescriptive top down
policies is probably going to be a hindrance.

Government as it exists in its current form is obsolete. I advocate that every
citizen acquire a personal natural rights and sane systems enforcement
quadcopter armed with non-lethal weapons. These quadcopters should be used for
a nonlethal removal of obsolete government structures and personnel.

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NovaS1X
>Government as it exists in its current form is obsolete. I advocate that
every citizen acquire a personal natural rights and sane systems enforcement
quadcopter armed with non-lethal weapons. These quadcopters should be used for
a nonlethal removal of obsolete government structures and personnel.

I love this paragraph.

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jamesdavidson
It’s a symphony of people, it’s a symphony of software, it’s a symphony of
robots now. ~Jeff Bezos

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evan_
More info directly from Amazon:
[http://amzn.to/1jZz62w](http://amzn.to/1jZz62w)

Amazon believes it could be operational as early as 2015. I assume it's only
going to be in certain municipalities and even then only in a certain area. It
might not actually be as crazy as it sounds- the drone will probably pay for
itself when you consider that Amazon will no longer be dependent on FedEx. The
$7 (or whatever) they pay FedEx to deliver Prime stuff now goes to paying for
the drones, amortized over a whole geographic area, maybe they'll even end up
saving money.

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gexla
I wouldn't have believed it if I wouldn't have heard about the same sort of
thing in China.

The hacking arms race is about to go airborne. I wonder what the penalty would
be if I send up my drone to intercept one of their drones and shoot it down?

I wonder if the have bigger drones for delivery of things like a billiards
table? I would order one for a friend just to scare the ____out of him.

It's great to see a huge company continuing to propel us into the future
rather than planning that in 5 years it could sit on it's laurels with a
monopoly.

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spacehome
You really wonder what the penalty would be? Do you regularly consider
shooting unoccupied cars?

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yalogin
I don't understand. How is this practical? There are many things that won't
work here --

\- How will it be cost effective? This is not free two day shipping like in
Prime.

\- How can it be 30 min delivery? That would mean Amazon will have a whole lot
of hubs all over the country in 1 hour radii. That itself sounds impractical.
Amazon would give up the one big advantage they have over walmart - the fact
that they don't own and maintain floor spaces all over the country.

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qq66
It will be cost effective if people are willing to pay for it. It won't be
available everywhere, only in densely populated areas, and the warehouses will
only carry a subset of smaller, higher-value, more time-sensitive goods.

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jonah
So, the're planting their flag in the ground and saying the've almost solved
autonomous flight and obstacle avoidance in suburban areas? Amazing.

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fudged71
The idea of Christmas gifts falling down chimneys across the world in one
evening isn't sounding so ridiculous anymore.

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dangero
Would like to hear more detail about how it knows exactly where to drop the
package. Best case I can think of would be using your phone to set a GPS
location that you want it delivered to. The cool part about that is that I
could have them drop off the package in my back yard where it would not be
stolen as easily.

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JakaJancar
Unless someone flies in a drone and picks it up.

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derefr
It never occurred to me until now that you could use drones to commit petty
theft. Not even of someone else's goods--stolen credit card + random
residential address + drone waiting to pluck the package off the doorstep =
profusion of "brand-new-in-box" laptops into the secondary market.

I suppose the challenge would be hiding the drone, especially before drones
become a ubiquitous consumer-good... but I suppose you don't have to meet them
at home; any flat rooftop is a valid place to drop a package to go collect, or
a valid "overnight parking" destination.

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jonbaer
A bigger question is that even in 2015 w/ a successful lunch what is going to
prevent these things from being hit or redirected (GPS MITM) in the sky. Going
to assume it will become a crime to interfere with domestic UAVs @ some point.

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baddox
I'm pretty sure it is a crime to damage or steal people's property. I'm
failing to see the regulation crisis that so many drone skeptics are claiming.

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lostsock
[http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-for-
liftoff-o...](http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-for-liftoff-on-
drone-deliveries-in-australia-20131014-2vixx.html)

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jonbaer
"We hope the FAA's rules will be in place as early as sometime in 2015. We
will be ready at that time." ...

