On December 1 , 2013 , Americans find out a segment on 60 Minutes about Amazon ’s plans to deliver packages by drone in just “ four or five geezerhood . ” Well , it ’s formally been five years . And Amazon ’s loser to make drone delivery a realism is a enceinte admonisher that PR promises from great tech company are often not worth very much . And honestly , it ’s also an chance to be thankful that Amazon is n’t yet buzzing drones over our heads like it owns the sky .
A caboodle has actually changed about the world since 2013 . For one , the newsman who overcompensate this thinly - veil advertising , Charlie Rose , got fired after multiple womanhood accuse him ofsexual misconduct . There ’s also theglobal rise of fascism , which has the potentiality to really put a damper on social club ’s progress since 2013 , to say the least . But when it come to Amazon ’s endeavour , there is n’t a whole lot that ’s exchange . The company is still working on Earth domination of retailat the expense of proletarian ’ right , and we ’re still buying steady streams of shit because Amazon ordinarily gives us the best Mary Leontyne Price and delivers quickly .
Amazon ’s drone - powered Prime Air was gasconade as a “ confidential R&D ” projection that was pass to revolutionize commerce in the United States . And the entire telephone exchange between Bezos and Rose , as it ’s been transcribe on the 60 Minutes website , is middling sicken with the welfare of hindsight :
But during our visit to Amazon ’s campus in Seattle , Bezos kept assure us that he did have a magnanimous surprise , something he wanted to bring out for the first time …
Jeff Bezos : Let me show you something .
Charlie Rose : Oh , world … Oh , my God !
Jeff Bezos : This …
Charlie Rose : This is ?
Jeff Bezos: … is … these are octocopters .
Charlie Rose : Yeah ?
Jeff Bezos : These are effectively trailer but there ’s no ground that they ca n’t be used as bringing vehicles . Take a look up here so I can show you how it works .
Charlie Rose : All decent . We ’re talking about delivery here ?
Jeff Bezos : We ’re tattle about pitch . There ’s an item going into the fomite . I experience this looks like scientific discipline fiction . It ’s not .
Charlie Rose : Wow !
Jeff Bezos : This is early . This is still … years away . It drops the bundle .
Charlie Rose : And there ’s the package .
Jeff Bezos : You come and get your package . And we can do half hour delivery .
Charlie Rose : Half hour saving ?
Jeff Bezos : Half hour delivery / and we can carry objects , we think , up to five pound , which covers 86 pct of the detail that we deliver .
Charlie Rose : And what is the grasp between the fulfillment heart and soul and where you’re able to do this within …
Jeff Bezos : These … this … this … these gener …
Charlie Rose : 30 proceedings ?
uncalled-for to say , we do n’t have Amazon dawdler delivery just yet . And all the goggle box appearance really did was provide some filler for CBS watcher on a Sunday nighttime . Not to mention racking up over 16 million viewson YouTube , which is definitely a winnings in the public relations signified .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BIu9dpwHU
Amazon did not react to Gizmodo ’s request for remark , though we ’re not going to retain our breath on this one . technical school companies and the press have develop a more combatitive relationship since 2013 as more and more reporters realized that they ’re not helping their audience when they act as an file name extension of a company ’s PR team .
Of course , there ’s nothing incorrect with dreaming big , especially when it comes to tech that has the voltage to help humanness . But this 60 Minutes segment about Amazon ’s vaporware delivery drones never should ’ve ascertain the spark of day . Drone delivery is certainly a technical possibility today just as it was in 2013 , but just like so many other billionaire - led pipedreams ( anyone rememberthe Hyperloop ? ) , the vault are more political than technological . As the Associated Press observe , Union rules that would allow poke to be fly outside of an operator ’s line of sight are in all likelihood at least 10 eld by .
There is a long inclination of FAA rules governing drone flights . They more often than not ca n’t flee higher than 400 foot , over many federal facilities , or within five miles of an airport . Nox flights are veto . For the bringing business , the most vainglorious holdup is that the machine must remain within sight of the hustler at all times .
Do we want to live in a Earth where monotone are constantly buzzing overhead so that we can get our toilet paper delivered a little quicker ? perhaps some citizenry do . And maybe those who reject this version of the time to come could justifiedly be cry Luddites . But as it becomes increasingly clear that many of the technology from our generation have done very small to in reality improve our life sentence , we in spades have a right to be skeptical .
[ Associated Press ]
Jeff Bezos
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