Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 84 posts

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#21

Post by fontain »

dominotw wrote: post #2

we have these all over chicago and everyone hates them. I thought i hate it because they take up public sidewalks ( possibly illegaly) or that they are hurting delivery drivers or that some guy in india is watching me through the creepy camera on the robot. But those are posthoc rationalizations i just seem to hate them and i cant really explain why.

They're an anthropomorphic avatar of everything that is wrong with the business of technology. They're the broken promises of technology with a face. The promise of technology that we've all bought into is a better world, a world that lifts people up, instead we've got these dumb little robots that drive around making it even harder for people to survive. If we lived in a world where everyone's basic needs were met, these little robots would make you feel different.

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#22

Post by queenkjuul »

dominotw wrote: post #2

we have these all over chicago and everyone hates them. I thought i hate it because they take up public sidewalks ( possibly illegaly) or that they are hurting delivery drivers or that some guy in india is watching me through the creepy camera on the robot. But those are posthoc rationalizations i just seem to hate them and i cant really explain why.

Two of them have somehow crashed into bus shelters, smashing the glass, most recently on Lawrence iirc. That's good enough reason for me. I use those bus shelters, especially on Lawrence!

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#23

Post by queenkjuul »

left-struck wrote: post #15
cassepipe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well maybe if all the space was not given to cars there could be some little space for those small lightweight vehicles which is much more efficient than those stupid fat trucks (EDIT: by which I meant SUVs and the likes)

Edit: I misunderstood what OP meant by trucks. NVM How are light weight vehicles more efficient than trucks? That’s such a broad statement with absolutely no data provided to back it up. Efficiency matters a lot depending on the context. Delivering 40,000 kg of good cross country? Even a diesel truck is going to be more efficient than 10k little robot. Last mile delivery? Yes, obviously it’s not good to send a semi t…

Nobody is using semis to deliver pizzas and nobody is using sidewalk RC coolers to deliver pallets, what are you on about

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#24

Post by schoen »

meowkit wrote: post #11
olyjohn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not talking about properly regulated e-bikes. They're talking about the huge groups of kids riding around on Surrons and other electric dirt bikes that are actually just motorcycles. They're getting bikes that can do 70mph, wearing no safety gear, and riding them in traffic, and getting hit. That's the e-bike craze the author is talking about. So calm your tits.

What are the fatalities for e-bikes vs SUVs in the US per year? Your comment is irrelevant otherwise because last time I checked cars are the real problem, and concerns over e bikes / delivery bots is just another lame extension of “safetyism” and ignorance around public transport failures that just misses the mark. “Riding in traffic” is half the issue here. Like trying to explain water to fish.

I'd like to think I'm about as car-skeptical as your average person with no driver license who just got back from taking three forms of transit home from an all-day recreational road cycling event. But I'm a bit nervous about the speeds of some e-bikes.

A friend of mine spent a week in the hospital recently after crashing his new e-bike almost immediately after buying it. One interpretation of his accident is that he didn't have some of the right instincts for riding a bicycle at that speed.

I don't actually have a clear sense of the breakdown of risk attributable to the different factors of lack of appropriate cycling infrastructure, lack of appropriate rider training or experience, lack of appropriate rider expectations, or inherent safety or stability problems of some designs. My friend whom I mentioned above said his doctors told him that they had been seeing a lot of patients who'd crashed e-bikes (as well as electric mopeds and electric skateboards) at speeds that produced fairly serious injuries.

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#25

Post by hombre_fatal »

jszymborski wrote: post #18
dominotw wrote: post #2

we have these all over chicago and everyone hates them. I thought i hate it because they take up public sidewalks ( possibly illegaly) or that they are hurting delivery drivers or that some guy in india is watching me through the creepy camera on the robot. But those are posthoc rationalizations i just seem to hate them and i cant really explain why.

I think it's very rational to hate them for taking up public infrastructure for pedestrians, which already is often neglected in NA cities. Our cities already deemphasize people being out and about in public spaces, so car-centric, and this is an entirely intolerable insult to injury. They further alienate folks from jobs in their community, they exacerbate the already artificial friction of just walking to a restaur…

Yeah, pedestrians are already an afterthought, getting this tiny sliver of walk space next to the massive road.

And now you have to share it with someone’s private burrito transport.

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#27

Post by Joel_Mckay »

cozzyd wrote: post #16

my 4-year old daughter likes them and is sad whenever they seem to get stuck in random places for no reason.

Even a bit of cardboard can do surprising tasks with a bit of help. Maybe a fun project. =3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn1tSPP0VF8

http://www.tweenbots.com/

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#28

Post by verteu »

> Labor-saving devices are rarely that — instead labor is shifted, from one department to another, from the body to the brain, or standards are raised — when laundry is done by a machine, its operator must ensure that all clothing is bright, soft, sweet smelling and stain-free

What? The washing machine was so effective at saving labor that it's widely considered a major driver of gender equality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing_machine

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#29

Post by dylan604 »

jszymborski wrote: post #18
dominotw wrote: post #2

we have these all over chicago and everyone hates them. I thought i hate it because they take up public sidewalks ( possibly illegaly) or that they are hurting delivery drivers or that some guy in india is watching me through the creepy camera on the robot. But those are posthoc rationalizations i just seem to hate them and i cant really explain why.

I think it's very rational to hate them for taking up public infrastructure for pedestrians, which already is often neglected in NA cities. Our cities already deemphasize people being out and about in public spaces, so car-centric, and this is an entirely intolerable insult to injury. They further alienate folks from jobs in their community, they exacerbate the already artificial friction of just walking to a restaur…

> so car-centric

Isn't this a solution to that though as the delivery would otherwise be made by a human in a car. I don't have these robots in my area, but I do have the Walmart delivery drones. Those are interesting to watch. A neighbor recently had a delivery by two drones where one approached within seconds of the first recovering the cradle before moving into the same spot. To the point that I was left wondering if the drones have self co-ordination abilities to know a fellow drone is already in place, or if the timing of the system was just right to avoid collision. Either way, I find the constant drone sound of them zipping by annoying. I'm a 10 minute walk from their base, so they are pretty constant.

Re: Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

#30

Post by Kapura »

I think it's important to note that these things don't take jobs from humans; they dislocate the jobs from expensive humans where the vehicles operate to less expensive humans with an internet connection in the global south. This is literally outsourcing physical labour overseas.
Post reply on HN