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Am I the only one who hates delivery robots?

latimes.com

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

#61

Post by imtringued »

XorNot wrote: post #36
nixpulvis wrote: post #34

I hate them, but not for perhaps the normal reason. I also hate the way delivery has progressed. Delivery used to be relegated to a few types of food which were designed better for it. Remember when your pizza came hot in an insulated pizza sleeve, not dropped at your entrance cold and sad? We're making it more and more normal to completely avoid interacting with each other and having service be something we cherish,…

I don't know what harm you are imagining happens here. Because the actual environmental harm of normal customer pick up is pretty large - its very inefficient to have hundreds of people converge on one location, rather then a single person or (robot) deliver many orders to the same hundreds of people.

This isn't true. The grocery distribution model is incredibly efficient in terms of transportation cost even if you drive there.

A delivery usually only transports a limited number of items and has to come from a far away hub. With grocery stores, the hub is less than 2km away and you usually buy more than half a shopping cart of goods.

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

#63

Post by nicbou »

verteu wrote: post #28

> 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…

Two things can be true. In this case, both are. Laundry machines were a massive improvement, but it did raise expectations around clothing.

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

#64

Post by Markoff »

SwellJoe wrote: post #53
Markoff wrote: post #40

If they didn't use sidewalks, bike paths, pedestrian crossing or roads obstructing mostly pedestrians I think I wouldn't have problem with them, butt that's not the case so I dislike them very much, though I like the use of technology. But overall they support unhealthy lifestyle, they deliver food (at least here in Europe they seem to be used only for food) only over short distance where client could easily and fast…

Counterpoint (though I agree there is often a problem with them sharing often already insufficient pedestrian infrastructure): Many people can't walk to pick up their food. Pervasive delivery service is a huge quality of life improvement for a variety of disabled folks and folks who are homebound for whatever reason. And, the alternative to these robots is exactly this: "We have already problems with stupid drivers p…

that works only in theory, these robots deliver the food only on the street, so they might as well leave in restaurant since they make no difference for someone on 2nd or higher floor, most of the people in areas where they operate don't live in villas, but they either deliver to companies or to residential multi floor buildings

plus disabled people have already their carers to take care of the food and can't rely on unreliable robot which will get stuck even on simple pedestrian crossing

so yes, human delivery service to the door is improvement to disabled people's lives, robot delivery to the street sidewalk certainly isn't

counterpoint to the cars - they are much more efficient, they can delivery many orders at once, they are faster and they can deliver food to the door for disabled people, so these delivery robots are completely useless alternative besides companies saving money on human workers

btw I'd rather prefer police doing their actual work when car park on the sidewalk rather than robot alternative, I think the best compromise which is already used here would be ebike/motorbike delivery not taking any significant space

personally I don't order any food so I don't really have horse in this race, I think I've made two food orders over like 3-4 years, one for my birthday and other was wife's online team building paid by her company, both were for like 5-6km distance robot would take hours to deliver

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

#66

Post by cassepipe »

schoen wrote: post #24
meowkit wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

That is a regulatory issue and a name issue. Those are actually motorcycles. In Europe e-bikes are capped at 25 km/h (the electric assistance stops at that speed).

So your problem is (electric) motorcycles that are (legally?) accessible without a motorcycle license and motorcycle equipement. For safety what matters is the speed and the weight of the vehicle, the faster and heavier, the more dangerous.

I am also noting that unlike with SUV accidents, your friend put a lot less people in danger if not only himself.

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

#67

Post by cassepipe »

chao- wrote: post #51
schoen wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, and hope they recover well. Something I think a lot about when it comes to e-bikes, is the level of protective gear people feel they ought to wear on "a bike". Not all cyclists even wear helmets (obviously bad), but in addition to a helmet, on an e-bike you really ought to be wearing elbow and knee protection, purely because of the speed involved. However, my sense is that people…

> they ought to wear on "a bike"

Indeed, if it's going above 50 km/h, it's not a bike it's a motorbike. Protective gear should match the speed and weight of your vehicle. To drive a motorbike, you should have motorbike license and equipment. It feels like a regulatory issue frankly.

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

#69

Post by cassepipe »

pests wrote: post #46
meowkit wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

By your logic, heart disease and cancer are the real concern. Why you so worried about cars? Your comment is irrelevant otherwise.

I think we can tackle different issues at the same time

For heart issues, it is a bit hard to fix. You need a healthy lifestyle is general is something you need the correct environment for and a good education about. Still, it's not impossible and any sane country has food labeling requirements and education around it as well as promotion of physical exercise. It's being done.

Similarly car-centric city design is not easy at first but it can be done and has been done:

Relax zoning and parking requirements, provide good fast collective transport alternatives,that is with dedicated lanes and safety staff. The general idea is that you shouldn't be forced to have a car if you don't want one. Even people who do want to keep their cars will be happier because there will be less people on the road overall: Imagine that traffic jam you're stuck into if half the people vanish because they are using a bike or a subway, woosh, no more traffic jam.

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

#70

Post by cassepipe »

NDlurker wrote: post #14
meowkit wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They can both be a problem. I saw a kid hitting a dike like a ramp with one of these electric dirt bikes. I've seen kids too small for these cruising around way too fast with no helmet. Big trucks and SUVs are a much bigger problem. But that doesn't mean kids riding around on motorcycles isn't a problem either.

The point of contentions is calling them e-bikes instead mopeds or e-motos or motorcyles, which you did, but the article didn't. And they are a journalist so I hold them to higher standard.
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