
Amazon to deliver by drone? Don't believe the hype - bloat
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/amazon-drone-delivery-jeff-bezos-hype
======
owenmarshall
>It's all well and good for the unmanned vehicles to fly to a particular GPS
site, but how does it then find the package's intended recipient?

The drones could be almost fully automated - fly to this GPS point above the
person's house, at which point control is handed to a pilot for the landing &
package drop.

>How is the transfer of the package enacted? What stops someone else stealing
the package along the way?

I'd imagine _the same way it 's done today_, the same way USPS/UPS handles
packages - by dropping them on my porch and hoping my neighbors are honest.

>And what happens when next door's kid decides to shoot the drone with his BB
rifle?

He gets a spanking and the drone gets repaired? The same thing that would
happen if he shot the tires off the Fedex truck?

This article raises some good points about the political ramifications of
drone technology, and some _excellent_ ones about it being a PR move to
squelch negative reporting, but I'm left with the feeling that, if he were
alive a century ago, James Ball wouldn't be out of place writing an article
titled "Sears & Roebuck to stop horse-drawn carriage delivery in favor of the
automobile? Don't believe the hype".

~~~
jwr
> The drones could be almost fully automated - fly to this GPS point above the
> person's house, at which point control is handed to a pilot for the landing
> & package drop

In the real world, you can't "fly to this GPS point". If this were possible,
we would have automated airplanes and pilots would be out of their jobs.
Remember the real world has other aircraft and a number of interesting
obstacles: power lines, lamp posts, fences, trees, cranes, trucks, chimneys,
kites and all other kinds of interesting stuff.

Flying blind to a preprogrammed GPS location is simply impossible in the real
world.

Also, remember that GPS isn't quite enough to drop a package right on your
doorstep. You need much more than that.

~~~
owenmarshall
>Flying blind to a preprogrammed GPS location is simply impossible in the real
world.

I didn't intend to rule out the need for clever self-flying technology on the
part of Amazon.

But comparing the challenges that face an airplane that carries people at very
high speeds and altitudes to a low altitude slow-moving drone is pretty silly.

Google's self driving car does this at road speed limits. There's no reason a
drone doing 20 MPH with an extra degree of freedom couldn't do it as well.

>Also, remember that GPS isn't quite enough to drop a package right on your
doorstep. You need much more than that.

>> at which point control is handed to a pilot for the landing & package drop

~~~
raverbashing
>> at which point control is handed to a pilot for the landing & package drop

Good, how?

Do you think 4G can allow you to do that? With enough latency?

Flying military drones is a _very complicated_ matter.

Today civilian drones are flown with _visual contact_ and at close range.

So, no.

~~~
jonlucc
Do I misunderstand this technology? I think the fly to GPS waypoints thing is
done by these guys:
[http://copter.ardupilot.com/](http://copter.ardupilot.com/)

~~~
raverbashing
See this: [http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/planning-an-apmcopter-
missi...](http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/planning-an-apmcopter-mission-with-
waypoints-and-events/)

The flight is manually pre-planned. You also need to consider obstacles (and
other aircraft).

------
pvnick
There are some people that only see downsides, that compulsively expect
failures. We call them nay-sayers. You want a handful of them in your
organization, especially in tech, since they keep your head out of the clouds.
But too often they tend to be averse to innovation and derail progress. James
Ball, the author of the article, seems to be one of those people.

On October 9, 1903, two months before the Wright brothers flew for the first
time, the New York times declared "The ridiculous fiasco which attended the
attempt at aerial navigation in the Langley flying machine was not unexpected…
it might be assumed that the flying machine which will really fly might be
evolved by the combined and continuous efforts of mathematicians and
mechanicians in from one million to ten million years" [1]

I imagine someone like James Ball wrote that article, too.

[1]
[http://www.skygod.com/quotes/times1903.pdf](http://www.skygod.com/quotes/times1903.pdf)

 _edit: rmc indicated I wrote date as 2013, fixed to 1903_

~~~
SandB0x
Come on, this is a complete straw man. The article is not saying it's
physically impossible, because clearly it isn't, it's saying there are legal
and logistical problems to consider.

Plus, following your argument you could swat away any criticism of any
outlandish claim by saying that people once thought the world was flat. Hardly
constructive. Not that there are any claims of this magnitude by Amazon or in
this article.

~~~
watty
Well the main point of the article was "it's all hot air and baloney". His
logistical issues seem like he's grasping for anything he can to discredit the
idea. With his added sarcasm ("any second now"), I'd put him in the exact same
camp as the NY Times writer.

~~~
frogpelt
No, he's not grasping.

He didn't called it "hot air and baloney" because he thinks it would never
physically work. He called it that because he believes it was timed to
coincide with Cyber Monday. The bureaucratic hurdles for this are too numerous
to mention. It goes in the Hyperloop-from-LA-to-NYC category.

I doubt he's missed the mark since there's not many other logical reasons for
Amazon to announce this possibility five years in advance.

It's Amazon.com marketing hype. Go buy something.

~~~
jasonlotito
It's Dan Lyons. He's grasping.

> I doubt he's missed the mark since there's not many other logical reasons
> for Amazon to announce this possibility five years in advance.

Getting public support early so they have an easier time of getting the
legislation passed to make this possible.

Getting public support early so they can get people thinking/accepting of drop
off locations in and around their homes and businesses.

Getting people interested in working for a forward thinking company, and
therefore attracting engineers wanting to work on interesting things.

But no. It's just marketing hype.

You know what is purely hype in order to get page views? This article by
Lyons.

------
frabcus
The important part is at the end:

"Bezos' neat trick has knocked several real stories about Amazon out of the
way. Last week's Panorama investigation into Amazon's working and hiring
practices, suggesting that the site's employees had an increased risk of
mental illness, is the latest in a long line of pieces about the company's
working conditions – zero-hour contracts, short breaks, and employees' every
move tracked by internal systems. Amazon's drone debacle also moved discussion
of its tax bill – another long-running controversy, sparked by the Guardian's
revelation last year that the company had UK sales of £7bn but paid no UK
corporation tax – to the margins."

~~~
icebraining
Yeah, we've seen how those stories affected their Black Friday sales, before
the 60 Minutes episode:
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandcon...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10485833/Amazon-
reports-record-breaking-Black-Friday.html)

~~~
Brakenshire
Reputational damage operates over much longer timescales.

------
SyneRyder
I find it strange that The Guardian wants to call Amazon's effort a publicity
stunt, but when a Sydney company announced plans for the world's first Book-
delivery-by-drone back in October, The Guardian was happy to run that story
without any skepticism:

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/drone-book-
deli...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/drone-book-delivery-
service-students)

~~~
wavefunction
Why not just use digital versions of the textbooks? I like physical books over
"ebooks" but it seems like an incredibly wasteful service to shuttle around
physical textbooks.

As far as why the difference in coverage? I would guess that a company like
Amazon generally announces these sorts of initiatives when they're pretty much
available, which makes the "earliest in 2015" bit turn this into a big PR
stunt imo.

------
zobzu
Doesn't matter what articles say. This stuff isn't happening any time soon (or
any time at all may be).

I'm surprised the general population is inclined to believe such bullshit - in
fact I'm surprised Amazon themselves are inclined to believe it.

Flying by "drone" is:

\- more expensive

\- not reliable (at all)

\- prone to theft (of the drone, not the package, mind you)

\- doesn't work at all in bad weather

\- less efficient than current delivery methods

\- easy & fun to circumvent (oh crap someone killed the 1300mhz range, our 10
000 drones just fell off the sky, military style, QUICK NEWS STORY)

it goes on and on, forever, literally... if anything I think automated driving
cars are easier to get right.

~~~
TillE
Precisely. Aside from the "wow cool" factor, this will _never_ be anywhere
near the best option in any place that has drivable roads.

------
jusben1369
Wow. Obnoxious on multiple levels:

"Amazon's drone debacle also moved discussion of its tax bill – another long-
running controversy, sparked by the Guardian's revelation last year that the
company had UK sales of £7bn but paid no UK corporation tax "

\- Introducing your own newspaper into the debate negates any chance you have
that this is in impartial journalistic piece. Secondly, I doubt Bezos is
thinking about some UK tax noise when deciding whether or not to discuss
drone's with 60 minutes.

"It's too late for the clickfarms already. But outlets and journalists who'd
like to think of themselves as serious must stop regurgitating this crap. And,
even more importantly, you,concerned citizen, must try to stop clicking on
it."

\- Let me lecture both my peers and my audience on how they need to behave.
I'm uniquely qualified to do this because........well for no real reason
actually except a heightened sense of self worth.

Hack job.

~~~
bloat
Note that this article is in the Guardian's Comment Is Free section, which is
precisely for editorializing and putting forth personal opinions.

~~~
jusben1369
Thanks. I was just thinking of the author vs the paper but point worth noting.

------
geetee
The amount of idea-bashing coming out against this Amazon drone concept is
astonishing. Aren't we supposed to the be champions of the future? Do you
think for a second that your nail-in-the-coffin counterpoint hasn't already
been brought up around the meeting table? Can't we focus on how instead of why
not?

~~~
ProblemFactory
Drone deliveries are cool and futuristic idea, and I'm sure they will happen
at some point.

But there is a big difference between "Bezos thinks drone deliveries would be
cool in 5 years time", and "Amazon starts drone deliveries". The article
rightly concludes that _at this time_ , it's a PR trick for driving black
friday sales.

The concept of drone deliveries isn't that novel: at least 10 companies have
announced that they are working on or have put out promotional videos of the
same thing in the last few years. The novel and interesting bit would be to
figure out the real logistical difficulties, which Amazon nor the others have
yet presented.

* [http://mashable.com/2013/06/05/dominos-drone/](http://mashable.com/2013/06/05/dominos-drone/)

* [http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/09/04/chinese-firm-tests-dro...](http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/09/04/chinese-firm-tests-drones-for-express-delivery-service/)

* [http://tacocopter.com/](http://tacocopter.com/)

* [http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/16/flying-drones-to-deliver-te...](http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/16/flying-drones-to-deliver-text-books/)

~~~
geetee
The Tacocoptor was the first thing that came to mind when I was watching 60
Minutes. The difference here is that Amazon has a really compelling reason,
and more importantly, the capability (money/people) to push the technology
forward. I think that's really exciting.

------
sambeau
Here's how I would do it:

I'd sell/give away clip-on baskets with a fat QR-code or similar imprinted on
the inside bottom (or with embedded iBeacon-like-tech or even infrared lights
similar to the Wii) to all customers who want to use this service and ask them
to attach it to a window-sill, preferably upstairs or to the the back of the
house. This would allow the copter to make a secure drop. As the copters are
weight-limited anyway the baskets could also be.

It's also worth noting that as this service is for urgent items (why else
would you pay extra for a 30 min service) why would you need to worry about
the recipient being out? With GPS built-into mobile phones, 4G internet,
bluetooth and iBeacon-like tech you could inform the recipient just before
delivery or even better and it directly to them (or a special basket placed on
the ground).

------
reuven
I'm also surprised that Jeff Bezos, well known for avoiding the press,
spotlight, and all interviews, was suddenly being interviewed by a prominent
television network.

Moreover, Bezos, who almost never talks about products in advance, was talking
about something which won't be available for at least several years --
complete with a video demo.

I believe that Amazon has been investing time, money, and energy in this
delivery-by-drone system. And I'm even excited by this possibility, far-off as
it might be, and unlikely to come to my part of the world (i.e., Israel) in
the foreseeable future. So this wasn't a _just_ damage-control press tour, as
the Guardian author seems to think.

But something is going on here, and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe Amazon
is just trying to encourage more people to buy from them during the US
"holiday shopping period," as it's known. Maybe this is something of an
attempt to soften the negative image that Amazon workers' conditions have
received lately. (Several of my relatives were talking about it over the
weekend, so it has struck a chord with some people.) Maybe it's a "don't hurt
us, since we're doing such cool things" image campaign. I'm really not sure.
But this does seem rather out of character, and I'm glad that at least someone
is raising questions about it.

~~~
unfunco
I don't think Amazon needs to hype up the biggest shopping day of the year, it
will likely be a record day of sales for them whatever happens. It's more
likely that Amazon has some potential long term logistics contracts with
couriers to renew, and they're showing what they could likely be capable of.

------
at-fates-hands
The article reminded me of all the buzz surrounding the Segway. There was so
much buzz, in fact, people had a heyday trying to figure out what it was. Most
thought it was some kind of personal flying device - which led to long
discussions about the implications and roadblocks such a device would
encounter. Which is very similar to having packages delivered via drones.

In the end, the Segway hardly lived up to all the hype. I mean, Bezo's himself
was quoted as saying, "Cities will be built around these devices." Which
should give you a good idea of how masterful he's at over hyping certain
things. I now take most of his announcements with a pound of salt, considering
his colorful history.

------
The_Double
As someone who builds these for a hobby, the biggest problem is battery life
and range.

The battery life life of the craft is determined by the weight/battery
capacity ratio. Since is hardly any aerodynamics, the multicopter is
constantly fighting the force of gravity by delivering an equal force using
its motors and props.

An optimistic range estimate for current batteries would be about 10 mi, but
the craft would also have to return, so make that 5mi.

Now imagine what happens when you attach a payload to it.

Regulations may change, and flight controlers keep getting better, but
batteries would need significant improvement for this to become viable.

~~~
jsmcgd
If range is a problem (and I have to assume that Bezos and team are aware of
the performance characteristics of current/near term drone tech) they don't
have to limit themselves to batteries.

------
qq66
I love how The Guardian thinks that in six hours it can think of several
dealbreaker problems that Amazon hasn't thought of in six months.

~~~
coldtea
> _I love how The Guardian thinks that in six hours it can think of several
> dealbreaker problems that Amazon hasn 't thought of in six months._

No, what they actually think is that in six hours they can think of several
dealbreaker problems that Amazon has also thought of but doesn't care about,
because it's a publicity stunt.

------
fidotron
This is a mixture of the Guardian being stereotypically British, seeing the
problems in everything, and ignoring the vast suburban reality of much of the
US, where the problems would be smaller and the idea that much more practical,
even if it's not necessarily easy.

It clearly is inevitable that at some point things will be delivered in this
manner, but simply whining about it in this way is just an attempt to take
away from anyone that tries to make progress, because heaven help the Guardian
if they ever acknowledge someone in the private sector contributing to the
advance of humanity.

------
guscost
It's pretty obvious what is going on here:

1.) The Guardian et al. complain about working conditions at Amazon.

2.) Amazon puts out PR hinting that many of those workers will be replaced by
automation before too long.

3.) The Guardian says it's just shopping season hype to distract from the
working conditions and such.

Basically Amazon just called their bluff, and is now under pressure to deliver
some seriously impressive results. How can a reporter complain about working
conditions for drones? Will they go full-on Luddite and try to blame Amazon
for destroying jobs? This should be interesting.

------
fijter
It would be very cool if they will be able to do this, I've toyed around a bit
with multicopters and know a thing or two about the current state of non-
military UAV's, here are my thoughts:

\- They use a octocopter; that's great for the payload, plus it adds some
redundancy; If a motor fails the others take over to get back safely without
crashing. A bad thing about this is that it's a heavy lift, so more battery
drain, so it needs a bigger battery == even more drain. I think you can get 30
minutes of flight time at the max out of that, with a lot of heavy batteries.

\- Multicopters carrying payloads use powerful electronic motors; You do not
want to put a finger near a spinning prop, for safety reasons a UAV within
reach of people or animals should always be controlled by a human, what if
someone runs up to the package to pick it up and the UAV automatically spins
up to return to home?

\- Auto landing is possible, but might be dangerous; The current systems (for
example ArduPilot) use GPS and acc/baro/gyro/compasses to achieve autonomous
flight. It works if your in field without trees around you, but the system
can't find the best spot to land for you, so you need to land it by hand for
this delivery service, controlled by a pilot over FPV (first person, wireless
video connection).

\- Experimental FPV ranges over 10 miles are possible, but not fail proof,
especially in a non-line of sight environment or while landing (low to the
ground).

Hate it to be a nay-sayer, this will have a future but the tech isn't here yet
at this moment to accomplish it fully autonomous and safe.

~~~
Crito
> _Multicopters carrying payloads use powerful electronic motors; You do not
> want to put a finger near a spinning prop_

I wonder if something like SawStop ([http://www.sawstop.com/why-sawstop/the-
technology](http://www.sawstop.com/why-sawstop/the-technology)) could be
adapted to help with this. Probably not worth the weight I guess.

------
davidw
It would not be that hard to write an app to authenticate the person picking
up the package to the drone.

You don't know when the UPS guy is going to show up, but presumably, with this
system, it's fast enough that you will be right where the order is dropped
off.

------
rottyguy
They're trying to solve a very real problem for their industry. I would also
point out that others may want to get involved. To wit: Google mainstreamed
the idea of automating cars yet mercedez, bmw, etc. will probably beat them to
the punch en masse. Whether amazon solves it or
walmart/target/USPS/FedEx/UPS/etc. we all win.

------
joering2
First and foremost, if Amazon Drones deliver within 10 miles radius in 2018,
why on Earth won't you let me drive to your facility (10 miles) and then
pickup my crap personally? Just build a platform you drive by you punch your
order number, confirm it then a basket with my junk drives by to the front. No
need to wait 5 years to make my life much easier.

Second of all, you wont see the air being open to commercial solutions until
the government is done with it. Its just how things work. Neither FAA nor any
other government organisation will allow anyone to ask questions why is amazon
flying stuff around but yet the streets are not patrolled by unmanned
aircrafts? or a fire put out by a team of cooperating drones? Until then (10
years?) Jeff is just advertising himself, a day before cyber Monday (like
article is indicating) and as usually he's doing great job!

------
mentos
I'd love to see some sort of crowd sourced solution for this system where
Amazon offers up what it sees as the biggest technical/legal limitations and
asks the internet for its solutions.

So far in just the HN threads, I've read some pretty innovative ideas (QR code
landing pads that homes can setup for the drones). I'm pretty sure with the
hive mind of the internet this problem can be solved by the collective
engineer/lawyer/politician/etc

We put men on the moon I think we can put amazon packages in people's
backyards!

------
venomsnake
And that kids is how we will revolutionize the drug smuggling ... even if
amazon don't deliver. Or any smuggling for low weight high price items.

~~~
gvb
Like trying to smuggle cigarettes into a prison?

[http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/27/21645567-...](http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/27/21645567-drone-
tries-to-sneak-contraband-into-georgia-prison)

------
wglb
So I wonder which will first reach practicallity the flying car, as touted by
the guardian [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jan/30/flying-
car...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jan/30/flying-car-
terrafugia-transition-aircraft) or Jeff Bezos?

Oh, and here is a 2007 guardian article about flying
cars:[http://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/aug/31/3](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/aug/31/3)

And here is an older one poo-pooing the idea:
[http://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jun/16/1](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jun/16/1)

Now I ask, which is hype and which is journalism?

------
GauntletWizard
The part that strikes me the most about this article: "Opening up crowded
urban areas full of terror targets to large numbers of flying platforms is
always going to be packed with conflicting interests and difficulties"

Yes, because urban areas full of terror targets aren't already full of
platforms for weapons delivery. It's not like anyone can strap on a backpack
and walk into a crowded mall.

Terror is not that real a threat. If you're worried about the terror
prospects, you've already lost. Terror has been possible since the invention
of explosives. Most people are friendly and cooperative, and do not value
random acts of violence. Real work to combat terror involves improving the
lives of marginalized people, and hunting down the few rabid dogs that are
spreading their disease.

------
hexagonc
Not sure why people are fixating on autonomous drones. If this happens at all,
the first drones will clearly be human controlled from the point they leave
the warehouse to when they reach the delivery zone. They will be teleoperated
and probably armed with a speaker and microphone so that the operator can
speak to the recipient. There will be multiple cameras so if someone is
interfering or trying to steal the payload, their face can be recorded so that
they can be reported to the authorities. Unless there is extremely high winds
or precipitation, weather doesn't have to be that huge a limiting factor
either. Pointing out the problems of autonomous aerial navigation in this case
is irrelevant.

------
roin
It's disappointing to read all this negativity around the drone delivery
story. Who knows if this will happen as soon as they claim, but it is a cool
idea with a lot of genuinely interesting implications.

The fact that Amazon is trying to generate good PR is a tangental story in my
opinion, and I wonder if investing in a drone delivery program just to show it
off would be the most cost effective way to get good press.

I am also very unimpressed with the challenges that Mr. Ball identified. He
probably had fun fashioning himself as some kind of technology muckraker, but
please go after uninspired technology instead of taking easy shots at
interesting and bold ideas.

------
downandout
If you read the article to the end, you realize that the author has big
problems with Amazon, but they have nothing to do with drones. He is using an
uptick in publicity about Amazon to voice his opposition to Amazon's business
practices.

As to the issues he raised with the idea itself, the reality is that every
single one of the issues will be resolved. This type of delivery, along with
privately owned drones carrying out mundane tasks that would normally have us
driving around town, is our future. It will happen, the only question is when.

~~~
SideburnsOfDoom
> He is using an uptick in publicity about Amazon to voice his opposition to
> Amazon's business practices.

Does this refute his claim that Amazon are using an uptick in publicity to
hide opposition to Amazon's business practices?

~~~
downandout
I wasn't refuting anything. Just stating a fact: this author is clearly not
making impartial judgments about the company. His objections appear to have
more to do with his anti-Amazon feelings than anything else.

------
rpenm
Autonomous wheeled delivery would seem to accomplish Amazon's goals with the
benefit of reduced cost per lb-mile. Vertical thrust air transport is very
inefficient compared to ground transport - more energy is spent maintaining
altitude than moving forward.

Autonomous ground delivery does suffer from reduced navigational flexibility
(anything other than curbside delivery is tricky). But it potentially has
lower operating costs and safer failure modes. It may also be easier to
integrate into existing regulatory frameworks.

------
conductr
what makes the two events mutually exclusive?

If a start-up had done this, they'd write a blog called "how we hacked cyber
monday" and the CEO would be your new man-crush, he'd then write an e-book
called "PR hacking for profit and more profit", you'd drool when he spoke at
the next TED, then a couple years from now your review of the prime air
service would be full of OMGs

My point is it's a smart move now for the PR and in the future for what this
tech could do, one does not damn the other. Amazon has more than proven its
tech chops are beyond that of a just a website, combine that with the fact
that the copter tech has been advancing on it's own at a fast pace and I think
you'd be a fool to bet against Amazon on this one.

If they develop the technology, they're not restricted to using it in the USA.
Some country will allow them, then it's another issue of the USA lagging
behind due to regulations and we'll get it eventually. Bezos was more than
transparent about 2015 being the best case scenario and not giving any true
expectations. Either way, it's a matter of when, not if.

------
spiritplumber
I will do this for my business ( www.f3.to ) before the year is out,
commercially. Please mark this post and call bullshit on me if I don't.

------
Tarang
What I'm finding weird is that the skepticism over droned delivery feels like
its more than the scope of Amazon.com, the world's largest internet retailer
with super cheap prices, being able to deliver stuff via drones within 30
minutes. Doesn't that count for being anything sublime?

Would it be unpredictable that USPS/Fedex/DHL start doing something like it
too?

------
balakk
There are things that you see as hype, and dismiss them. And then there is
hype, which you desperately want to be true.

Somebody will figure out a way.

------
IvyMike
Yes, this story, at worst a pie-in-the-sky project of one company, that will
fade into the background in a week, _this_ is the thing we should be skeptical
about.

The consequences if I did "believe the hype" are terrible, I'm sure, although
I can't think of a single one right now.

------
TeeWEE
I believe this is possible. Just look at these autonomous drones doing stunts:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRTALJp8DM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRTALJp8DM)
Delivering a packet is much easier than the stuff the are doing in this vid.

~~~
sambeau
Those drones aren't fully-autonomous they are flying in an intelligent room
with cameras and special lights attached to the walls. The control computers
are also not on-board.

------
spo81rty
The argument of stealing a package is no different than following around UPS
trucks to steal them.

~~~
SandB0x
Except you'd also have to deal with the delivery driver. It's valid to observe
that a bored kid may not think much of shooting down a small unmanned
quadrotor, whereas they might not be so keen to attack a delivery man or a car
containing a delivery man.

~~~
dangrossman
You wait until the driver leaves. It's safer than stealing from a drone;
someone buying air delivery is probably home and might catch you in the act.
If the UPS driver left a package at the door and nobody came out for it, the
recipient's probably not home.

~~~
SandB0x
That's why they don't just leave packages on the street, at least not any
package I've had delivered by courier in the UK. You have to sign for it
otherwise it goes back to the depot and they leave you a note.

~~~
dangrossman
Must be regional. Whether a signature is required is up to the shipper, and
Amazon generally doesn't request one. You could follow a UPS driver around in
the US and pick up boxes from in front of doors all day. There are 1700
YouTube videos called "UPS package thief".

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SandB0x
Interesting, thanks for the correction.

I don't think the handover issue is a fundamental problem with the drones
though. For example you could receive an automated phone call to let you know
the package is hovering above your house. If you're ordering something to be
delivered in 30 minutes you're probably going to be there to receive it.

But I still see theft in transit as an issue. The moral/mental threshold is
surely much lower for shooting down a mechanical fly than it is for raiding a
van.

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mtrimpe
The threshold for destroying a device costing several thousand dollar which is
actively having its location monitored?

If a police car is nearby it could be on the scene before the drone even hits
the ground and having a few stories of parents getting a giant bill might do
the trick.

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jsmcgd
Also I would imagine that the drone could be transmitting a live video feed.
Anyone trying to steal/attack the drone would be recorded trying to do so.

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savrajsingh
He's definitely right about the timing of the announcement. Well timed for
sure.

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basyt
I am not trying to be obstructive or distract the discussion - but it occurs
to me that anyone can shoot down the drone and retrieve valuable artifacts
that are being transported.

How would you safeguard against that?

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Zoomla
I think it would be cheaper and easier to have only a couple warehouses in
space/orbit.

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DrinkWater
Amazon Stock is doing pretty pretty pretty good after this "drone news".

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TazeTSchnitzel
Heh, even HN seemed to fall for it.

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renderfail
Cats...

