Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#31

Post by hellogoodbyeeee » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:31 PM UTC

wehadfun wrote: post #19

hellogoodbyeeee wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, the same number of people who are hijacking ups trucks.

UPS truck hijacked in Chicago: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/12/01/thieves-steal-package... UPS truck hijacked in Boston: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/11/10/dorchester-ups-truck-c... UPS truck hijacked in Milwaukee: http://fox6now.com/2015/12/11/it-seems-to-be-getting-worse-m... UPS truck hijacked in Florida: http://www.wptv.com/news/region-st-lucie-county/fort-pierce/... Georgia: http://www.cbs46.com/story/153…

How many UPS trucks are on the road on any given day? How does that number compare to your five news stories over the last five years?

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#32

Post by elahd » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:31 PM UTC

brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

>so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off

My building's roof is at least as secure as its lobby.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#33

Post by peteretep » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:32 PM UTC

Neliquat wrote: post #18

Not exactly making history here. Wake me up when anyone can order from a drone, not just another PR stunt. And I see legitimate questions downvoted already. The amazon shill is real.

You expect it will one day just pop in to existence from nothing, and there are no milestones along the way to celebrate? I rate your comment 1/5 stars.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#34

Post by dabeeeenster » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:33 PM UTC

stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

Interesting question - how quiet could a drone get? Presume they are not optimised for sound...?

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#35

Post by anton_tarasenko » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:34 PM UTC

That's a last mile solution.

Comparing to human costs of Amazon's preferred shipping method: USPS's subsidized parcel injection. The last mile belongs to USPS. In the urban environment, that's about 15 minute per parcel at $20 per hour (labor plus trucks). I.e., $5 per parcel. For FedEx, the cost of the entire expedition process is roughly $6.6 per parcel ($43bn cost of revenue for 6.5bn deliveries), so the last mile costs less than that.

Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeny suggests $10 per drone delivery. He doesn't specify from where. I assume he also means the last mile.

Are drones more expensive than humans? Air is expensive. Think of helicopters vs cars. With all congestion, helicopters have not become the vehicle of choice. They're noisy and can land only in certain locations. Most urban areas are too dangerous for them.

Air drones inherit these disadvantages.

As for Amazon, it'd have to stop outsourcing delivery to postal services and build a lot of physical infrastructure. Few tech companies are comfortable with this because they become capital intensive businesses, which they don't like.

So, not Amazon and not air drones. Perhaps ground vehicles within city borders and only after cars learn driving without humans. That's 5-10 more years.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#36

Post by smlacy » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:34 PM UTC

stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

Agreed on the perceived futility of these efforts. Even Amazon knows its silly: "First starting with 2 customers and the moving to DOZENS!" Woo hoo good job guys!

But first can we please solve the leafblower problem? Modern american suburbia is already ruined by an almost constant 120dB buzz and pollution & smell of cheap 2-stroke engine exhaust.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#37

Post by wehadfun » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:34 PM UTC

kaishiro wrote: post #27

wehadfun wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UPS truck hijacked in Chicago: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/12/01/thieves-steal-package... UPS truck hijacked in Boston: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/11/10/dorchester-ups-truck-c... UPS truck hijacked in Milwaukee: http://fox6now.com/2015/12/11/it-seems-to-be-getting-worse-m... UPS truck hijacked in Florida: http://www.wptv.com/news/region-st-lucie-county/fort-pierce/... Georgia: http://www.cbs46.com/story/153…

Are you trying to make a point? If so, could you be more clear?

Sure! The comment I replied to, seems to imply that hijacking UPS trucks is a non-existent, or rare event. A simple Google Search seems to indicate that it happens all the time. There for making the original OPs concern somewhat valid.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#38

Post by gamegoblin » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:34 PM UTC

stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

According to the video, they fly ~400ft up.

Can anyone with more quadcopter experience describe how noisy that is? I know they are loud when they are nearby, but 400ft is far.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#39

Post by peteretep » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:35 PM UTC

sarreph wrote: post #24

I'm trying not to be cynical, but to me this still feels like there is a huge gap between now and scaling this into urban areas. As other commenters have pointed out, how is Amazon going to operate drone fleets in cities? Of course we must take small steps to get to the Amazon utopia , but we must question how much hype there is on these kinds of 'demos'. After all, it's drone technology demonstrating pickup/dropoff…

Do they need to operate in the cities right now, or is a hybrid fleet an option and different solutions for different population densities?

I note as well that in a city like Oxford (UK) many/most houses do in fact have gardens. Different cities, different solutions. Not everywhere is NYC

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#40

Post by FroshKiller » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:35 PM UTC

brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

I live in an urban area in the US. UPS, FedEx, and the USPS all drop my packages off unsecured at my front door as it is. What difference does it make whether it's a person in a truck or a drone doing it?

As an Amazon Prime member, I sometimes use Prime Now to get deliveries made in two hours from a limited selection of products, and that requires a minimum order and a delivery surcharge. It's still a great option that I take advantage of. I have to imagine I would also take advantage of an even faster drone delivery option for some things: snacks when I haven't gone shopping and have people coming over (and I can't be bothered to go out to do proper shopping beforehand), the odd household item I need but don't feel like driving to pick up, etc.

The "not driving" part is the key for me personally. I don't really like risking life and limb to buy potato chips.