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

#51

Post by Zombieball » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:41 PM UTC

smlacy wrote: post #36

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.

I bet someone thought the same thing when Amazon sold its first couple of books online ;)

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

#52

Post by zapt02 » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:41 PM UTC

vorpalhex wrote: post #15

zapt02 wrote: post #6

I see the test flight conveniently took place over farmland. What happens when one of these has a mid-flight failure and hits someone over the head?

They probably get a bonk on the head and checked for a concussion. Better then being hit by a delivery truck I suppose.

Sounds like a best-case scenario, those drones fly pretty high and are very heavy. Sounds more likely that it would be a fatality.

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

#53

Post by vkou » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

wehadfun wrote: post #37

kaishiro wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Every year, without fail, there are people in the world who are killed by goats.

This doesn't mean that I need to worry about goat attacks.

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

#54

Post by kuschku » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

davidverhasselt wrote: post #29

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 can see drones being used in cities to dump packages into the top of packet vending machines that already exist, that open up with a PIN code. It'd be much easier too because the route can be hardcoded towards the machine.

That's a good idea. Combine it with a DHL Packstation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packstation in every building, or, in more suburbian areas, every street, and you solved deliveries.

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

#55

Post by wackro » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

FroshKiller wrote: post #26

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?

I don't know about you being the only one, but personally, I certainly prefer the buzz if it means fewer vehicles on the roads every day.

I'm not sure decreased traffic will be an effect. Only increased air traffic. And more amazon sales.

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

#56

Post by pseudometa » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:44 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?

Both the noise and sight of drones is unpleasant. I can't imagine rich people wanting a stream of drones flying over their homes. One more thing poor people will have to put up with in the future.

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

#57

Post by jonknee » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

51Cards wrote: post #49

elahd wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

From everyone else in your building? What's top stop the guy in 5B going "Hey... package... thanks" I see a huge uptick in stolen packages. Heck the drones themselves would make a nice parts source flying free over the city. Just have to pick off a couple of them now and then. I think the point when this becomes in any way practical is really really far off. Interesting demo for sure but pretty sure I'll never have s…

A lot of buildings already do that with packages that are delivered to the front door, I doubt in building neighbors stealing your stuff will be an issue.

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

#58

Post by Zombieball » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

FroshKiller wrote: post #40

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 th…

You nailed it. People frequently point out the unattended delivery aspect or talk about shooting drones from the air to get "free" packages.

At the end of the day it's a lot easier for theieves to just follow the UPS truck.

I am still waiting for Prime Now in Vancouver!

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

#59

Post by kuschku » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

randomdrake wrote: post #28

While the technology to move a package from point A to point B safely and autonomously is pretty cool, I think the more interesting story is what will happen to enable this feat. One thing Amazon has done right over the years has been figuring out how to blow away existing practices and technologies in the shipping and fulfillment space to replace or upgrade them with processes or tech allowing for ridiculous savings…

Interestingly, many competitors of Amazon already have that technology - take for example http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2016/09/08/a-new-mer... this concept.

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

#60

Post by snuxoll » Wed, Dec 14, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

anton_tarasenko wrote: post #35

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…

I'm certain drone delivery will be a premium service for some time to come, even with Amazon working tirelessly to do their own logistics the cost of purchasing drones, maintaining them, keeping enough spare batteries charged, etc. is not $0. I already pay $4 at minimum for next-day delivery with Amazon Prime, if they want to charge me $6 to get a kit of memory or a cable in 30 minutes instead of having to drive to Best Buy (and pay a lot more than $6 extra for) I would happily do so.