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Just watched the 60 minutes segment: Bezos say they won't be ready until 2015 at the earliest, likely 2016. (Edit: as the commenter below pointed out, I misheard the timeframe: is is 4-5 years out) He said the range is 10 miles, which is good enough for most residential areas. They are aiming for delivery in 30 minutes. The drones are autonomous: you plug in the GPS coordinates and away they go. The biggest challenge…
This is a startup opportunity. Amazon's competitors will want a drone delivery service even if they can't build the drones or service themselves.
I've long suspected they were working towards a point where they could handle the last mile in house—this development doesn't surprise me at all.
One of my pet dogs growing up always chased the UPS truck (rural area). I can't imagine what it would have done to delivery drones... In a hypothetical situation where a delivery drone gets sniped by some kid with a 22, what is Amazon's response?
Contact the police and send another.
I wonder how they'll stop this from being abused. From shooting them down with pellet guns to capturing them as they land.
But hey, this is evolution. Birds have the same problems. It'll be alright :)
Hold on a second, what happens when some birds, winds, or malicious citizens damage the drones? Does Amazon keep sending new ones? How do the drones deliver to apartment buildings or any address that does not have a lawn? Would return service work the same way? I love the product, but a little disappointed by the limited FAQ section.
I guess some of the answers related to actual Amazon policy will be clarified whenever the service actually starts (i.e. 2015 at the least).
Brick-and-mortar stores are doomed. I can only see a few types of products remaining in brick-and-mortars: Clothes that you want to try for size, fruits and vegetables that you want to sample, and restaurants... any others?