Amazon using robots to deliver

[Otherside]

Errr...what? I feel as though I've stepped into some weird Sci-Fi realm here...

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, is testing unmanned drones to deliver goods to customers, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos says.
The drones, called Octocopters, could deliver packages weighing up to 2.3kg to customers within 30 minutes of them placing the order, he said.
However, he added that it could take up to five years for the service to start.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is yet to approve the use of unmanned drones for civilian purposes.
"I know this looks like science fiction, but it's not," Mr Bezos told CBS television's 60 Minutes programme.
"We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3kg), which covers 86% of the items that we deliver."

And then this:

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of drones for police and government agencies, issuing about 1,400 permits over the past several years.
Civilian air space is expected to be opened up to all kinds of drones in the US by 2015 and in Europe by 2016

This is just really weird.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25180906

[enfield]

i heard some gossip that this air delivery is pretty much all a publicity thing. this makes some sense since the amazon hasn't been getting the best publicity lately with its forests being cut down in record numbers every year. we hear the amount in acres and we just think, wow, that's a lot of acres. must be a lot land. a lot of deforested land that doesn't contain any toucans anymore. its a depressing thought. and then there is the workers in the amazon. more and more is being said about how they're not being treated good. the tropical diseases, the sweltering temperatures, the uncertainty of employment, the lack of benefits, the dehumanization that goes in there. and what does the amazon do? nothing. meanwhile the reports and investigative journalism pile up. this is not a good company, there is something wrong in this forest. that's the conclusions. not to mention the CEO himself who presides over this is revealed to be of questionable character. he's like the wise tall tree, breathing and alive, that you can find at the center of any magical forest. but he's not a quietly benevolent one he's more like a quietly evil one. he uses his extensive network of roots to silence any dissidents within the forest. he hears and knows all so there is constant fear among its inhabitants. say the wrong thing and he will be listening. then you'll disappear like your neighbor did. everyone knows someone who disappeared and there's lots of ideas of where it is people disappear to, if it's to chambers under the ground in the dirt or some place else but these are ideas aren't shared for fear of reprisal. they're too scared to talk about it, to mention Him. everyone keeps to themselves and pretends things is normal but there's a sense from those on the outside as well as escapees, people who used to work in the amazon but got out, that things aren't as normal as they seem. so there's lots of reasons why the amazon might be keen on some good pr and using these drones to advertise their forest.

Bezos fits comfortably into this mold. His drive and boldness trumps other leadership ideals, such as consensus building and promoting civility. While he can be charming and capable of great humor in public, in private he explodes into what some of his underlings call nutters. A colleague failing to meet Bezos’s exacting standards will set off a nutter. If an employee does not have the right answers or tries to bluff, or takes credit for someone else’s work, or exhibits a whiff of internal politics, uncertainty, or frailty in the heat of battle—a blood vessel in Bezos’s forehead bulges and his filter falls away. He’s capable of hyperbole and harshness in these moments and over the years has delivered some devastating rebukes. Among his greatest hits, collected and relayed by Amazon veterans:
“Are you lazy or just incompetent?”
“I’m sorry, did I take my stupid pills today?”
“Do I need to go down and get the certificate that says I’m CEO of the company to get you to stop challenging me on this?”
“Are you trying to take credit for something you had nothing to do with?”
“If I hear that idea again, I’m gonna have to kill myself.”
“We need to apply some human intelligence to this problem.”
[After reviewing the annual plan from the supply chain team] “I guess supply chain isn’t doing anything interesting next year.”
[After reading a start-of-meeting memo] “This document was clearly written by the B team. Can someone get me the A team document? I don’t want to waste my time with the B team document.”
[After an engineer’s presentation] “Why are you wasting my life?”

[Chantellabella]

i heard some gossip that this air delivery is pretty much all a publicity thing. this makes some sense since the amazon hasn't been getting the best publicity lately with its forests being cut down in record numbers every year. we hear the amount in acres and we just think, wow, that's a lot of acres. must be a lot land. a lot of deforested land that doesn't contain any toucans anymore. its a depressing thought. and then there is the workers in the amazon. more and more is being said about how they're not being treated good. the tropical diseases, the sweltering temperatures, the uncertainty of employment, the lack of benefits, the dehumanization that goes in there. and what does the amazon do? nothing. meanwhile the reports and investigative journalism pile up. this is not a good company, there is something wrong in this forest. that's the conclusions. not to mention the CEO himself who presides over this is revealed to be of questionable character. he's like the wise tall tree, breathing and alive, that you can find at the center of any magical forest. but he's not a quietly benevolent one he's more like a quietly evil one. he uses his extensive network of roots to silence any dissidents within the forest. he hears and knows all so there is constant fear among its inhabitants. say the wrong thing and he will be listening. then you'll disappear like your neighbor did. everyone knows someone who disappeared and there's lots of ideas of where it is people disappear to, if it's to chambers under the ground in the dirt or some place else but these are ideas aren't shared for fear of reprisal. they're too scared to talk about it, to mention Him. everyone keeps to themselves and pretends things is normal but there's a sense from those on the outside as well as escapees, people who used to work in the amazon but got out, that things aren't as normal as they seem. so there's lots of reasons why the amazon might be keen on some good pr and using these drones to advertise their forest.

I like your sense of humor.

[Chantellabella]

Errr...what? I feel as though I've stepped into some weird Sci-Fi realm here...



And then this:



This is just really weird.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25180906

I can just see the skies filled with little machines humming 5 lb (2.3kg) packages at us as we run away screaming. If anybody is going to take over the world, Amazon can do it.

[Misssy]

Yah we were talking about this where I work because we have Amazon as a "competitor". I could see it for emergencies but otherwise it seems cray cray. Welcome to the future and it sucks.

[Skippy]

Whee, robots! I wonder if Amazon will become a robot maker in the future...?

[IllusionOfHappiness]

Do we really need more instant gratification?

[Otherside]

Do we really need more instant gratification?

Apparently Primes next day service isn't quick enough, and people are too lazy to get in the car and drive to a shop, like we all used to do before the exstence of amazon.

[enfield]

we don't need it but its the concept of improvement. tell people drones are going to be delivering their things and most of them will think cool, what an improvement, flying things instead of ground moving things is delivering packages now. but some of them, the skeptically minded, are going to ask voice doubt. what they'll ask is so what? that's when you come in with the punchline. its going to be faster. that's how you win that group over into thinking its cool so now everyone does. if there was too great of an uncool faction than they could spread their doubts to those who thought it was cool. what was supposed to be a good public relations affair could become a nightmare. so its important the delivery is not only by air but also really fast.