I'm ok with quiet, unmanned, self-driving delivery trucks that automate the package delivery process. I am not looking forward to delivery drones buzzing around overhead becoming a normal occurrence.
People are excited because they're cool toys, not because it actually solves a problem.
As for the range, electric cars mean that batteries are receiving a lot more development and economies of scale, plus people have been working on package switching networks for years already now.
Is it going to happen tomorrow? No. But Walmart can afford to be in it for the long haul.
Yes drones are impractical right now but we have just begun using them (they're still incredibly new). Battery technology will improve, drones will get better. By investing in the technology now you can work through it, find what works best, iterate and repeat with small subsets of customers. When drones become more cost effective and efficient you'll be ready and already serving products this way. Years later you may even close many of your retail stores. Why would you need them? People can use their phone, order something and have it just come to them. Logistics can be reworked incredibly so they can hold more inventory at less locations (thus lowering the overall inventory hold).
It's not going to happen today or tomorrow but 5-10 years? Drones are going to save companies billions of dollars on retail locations. Sounds crazy today sure but don't bet against technology.
How many people use Amazon Prime? Clearly a few days makes a big difference to a lot of people.
It certainly does hence why I mentioned 1-2 days assuming everyone was someone who does 2 day at the most :)
I'd imagine more people care about getting it in 1-2 days versus 3-5 days but I'm not sure how many care about the time difference in getting it same day. Sure people care but I feel like the bigger business opportunity is slimming down the inventory and retail presence.
"Anyone who fights, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy who dominates the air, is like a primitive warrior who stands against modern forces, with the same limitations and the same chance of success." -- Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Imagine: saving the 30 minute to 1 hour round trip to a store, or waiting half the time for a driver to wade through traffic at peak hours.
That's exactly what some (many?) of us want!
The drones are going to be cheaper than the UPS guy, not more expensive.
At best we'll see immediate drone delivery as an incremental surcharge or a value-add for a subscription service (Prime).
employees need to eat in 2015, and 2016 and 2017, etc.
I'm really not a Luddite; we need to find ways to put the tech development focus on things that benefit society as a whole.
/rant
We get our gadgets for less cost and the people that used to deliver them get paid by the government to retrain to do something else that's actually fulfilling and productive.
Win-win.
1. http://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=pn_uk_surl_lp?node=6584642031 2. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/ArgosPromo3/includeName/fast-t...
In order for drones to be cost effective, they need to stay in the air for minimum the full trip out and back from the home, but if you look at the location of most big warehouses (e.g. Amazon, Walmart) they're built outside of big cities for cost reasons, so now you have to fly twice as far to deliver packages onto the opposite side of the city.
So either the FAA will need to allow liquid fuel drones (gas, diesel, etc) which have their own safety issues, or they'll need to be extremely large to hold enough batteries. Plus the recharge time of batteries will also be an issue.
I think weather and safety are their biggest detractors, but I think energy problems are next on that list. All these companies keep doing is pumping out press releases but without any specific details about how far their drones can travel, under what conditions, etc.
I'd short sell anyone who announced they're going to invest in making this work. It is fine as a pet project and to get some publicity, but if they start throwing millions behind it, I'm betting against them and it.
90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart. If they were able to launch drones from their store locations it might address this concern.
Big warehouses are dependent upon current transportation technology (trucks and big cargo ships). If drones become feasible, there's no reason we couldn't move to decentralized (retail-scale) warehousing serviced by drones.
This assumes the drones would be sufficiently high enough that it wouldn't feel like a bunch of bees buzzing around overhead. Not true today, but eventually...
Granted, I wouldn't want the sky filled with them either even if they were perfectly quiet and efficient and safe. I feel like there could be a reasonable balance though.