Drones: When deliveries come from the sky
Picture thousands of drones zipping across America, swooping down every few minutes to drop off books and and boxed DVD sets.
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Picture thousands of drones zipping across America, swooping down every few minutes to drop off books and electronic gadgets and boxed DVD sets, said Josh Duboff in VanityFair.com. “Nope, this is not the premise for a dystopian novel; it’s real!” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on CBS’s 60 Minutes this week that within five years his company plans to use unmanned, GPS-operated “octocopters” to deliver purchases to a customer’s door—just 30 minutes after an online purchase. “The concept isn’t new,” said Jason Paur in Wired.com. FedEx and other businesses have already discussed the idea of using flying robots to make deliveries, and groups as varied as farmers, photographers, and Domino’s Pizza eagerly await the integration of civilian drones into the national airspace. But when a company as massive and wildly successful as Amazon gets involved, “people pay attention.”
Sorry to spoil all the excitement, but just wait until one of those 100-pound octocopters crashes down on someone’s head, said Peter Grier in CSMonitor.com. Letting businesses and individuals fill the sky with drones is just too risky. In densely populated cities, swarms of propeller-driven aircraft loaded with goodies would be a constant hazard—not to mention lucrative targets for thieves—while in rural areas, they’d be target practice for “people bored of hunting deer.” Meanwhile, to reassure the Federal Aviation Administration that the octocopters won’t snag power lines or crash into airplanes, Amazon may have to attach cameras to them, raising serious privacy concerns. Americans don’t want camera-bearing drones looking down on them from above; seven states have already banned police surveillance drones. Considering those obstacles, Amazon’s announcement smells like a “well-planned publicity stunt.”
“Yet for all the showmanship, there’s reason to believe that Amazon is on to something,” said Bloomberg.com in an editorial. The FAA is cautiously opening the door to domestic drone use, and the unmanned aircraft have already been successfully deployed in firefighting, disaster relief, and search and rescue. Now, with businesses beginning to dream up their own ideas, “expanded use of commercial drones is inevitable.” The technology needs to mature, said Rich Lowry in the New York Post, but it will. Drones just have too much potential to be grounded by fear of misuse. “Scoff at Jeff Bezos, if you like. But our robot future is already here, and it will inevitably take flight.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Judge Thomas' tip jar
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: 'Harry Potter' stars pay tribute to Michael Gambon, Hasan Minhaj revelations may have cost him the 'Daily Show' hosting gig, and more
The daily gossip: September 28, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
GOP debates
By The Week Staff Published