Topic: Amazon Prime Air: The Future Is Here (Kinda!)

THIS IS AWESOME! lol

We're excited to share Prime Air — something the team has been working on in our next generation R&D lab.

The goal of this new delivery system is to get packages into customers' hands in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles.

Putting Prime Air into commercial use will take some number of years as we advance the technology and wait for the necessary FAA rules and regulations.

Link here for info. FAQ:

Q: Is this science fiction or is this real?

A: It looks like science fiction, but it's real. From a technology point of view, we'll be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Q: One day we'll see a fleet of Prime Air vehicles in the sky?

A: Yes. One day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today.

Q: How are you going to ensure public safety?

A: The FAA is actively working on rules and an approach for unmanned aerial vehicles that will prioritize public safety. Safety will be our top priority, and our vehicles will be built with multiple redundancies and designed to commercial aviation standards.

Q: When will I be able to choose Prime Air as a delivery option?

A: We hope the FAA's rules will be in place as early as sometime in 2015. We will be ready at that time.

Imagine your package floating down from the sky gently onto your front porch. lol

I want this now!

Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this! ...I just wouldn't want it to drop my stuff, lol. ...and wouldn't it be kinda easy to take one of them down without a trace? Like, shoot one down or something and see what it's got? ...hmm... I'm not sure I'd trust it to send me stuff... or it could get stuck...

Yeah I probably wouldn't order the more expensive items this way. lol

And the shooting down part reminds me of Animal Crossing. Instead of a balloon we have an unmanned aircraft. Now if I see one I'm going to whip out a slingshot and sell the contents to pay for my house. lol

I can just see the conspiracy theorists loving these things.

Yep, exactly, lol. And they'll have better stuff than just balloon furniture in them lol.

@Tasuki: People make conspiracies about everything! I can see these things fueling them more than other things though, haha!

My test run would be to get me a beer.

...wut? Why?

I guess they would probably require you to have an Amazon Prime Air mailbox type thing so it can drop it in there.

Can already see people claiming the NSA supported the R&D for this thing. lol

This is the only way to get your packages to you as quickly as scientifically possible.

30 minutes or less! For when you order something that you need in less than 30 minutes! Admittedly not that often, but cool nonetheless! lol

Amen to this. Wonder how many six-packs this puppy can hold.

BTW, Amazon would have to basically replace USPS or UPS in order for this to work. Have a local place where you can send packages without online. Amazon would still have to ship by other means, probably, unless this thing can go cross country.

They can travel ten miles from fulfillment centers Link

Also the CEO of amazon is awesome

Bezos hinted that part of the motivation behind the mini-drones was to make sure Amazon remains on the cutting edge of the retail industry.

"Companies have short life spans... And Amazon will be disrupted one day," he said.

"I would love for it to be after I’m dead."

lmao. love this guy

Holy crap, now THIS is the future!

I don't think this will work for everything. This thing is moving at 5mph. You might as well walk or drive a few miles at that rate.

You don't say.. what form of common sense led you to that conclusion? lol

Obviously there would be great restrictions on what can be delivered like this.

I was just saying, because you guys are already trying to get it to bring you some beer.

That's because we have high hopes

And we want high hops

Which will be gracefully lowered onto our doorstep

Amazon would have to get a liquor license in order for that to happen. For some reason I feel like Amazon has their work cut out for them with this one... As long as it works, that's all that matters I guess.

I would encourage people to watch that video in the Yahoo link

Bezos is a really cool guy to listen to. He talks about how Amazon cuts a thin profit margin and sacrifices profits to maintain customer loyalty. And about how making customers happy in the long run makes shareholders happy.

He also shows a demo of the drones which can carry up to 5 lbs and deliver 10 miles away. Apparently packages under 5 lbs make up 86% of their packages. They're constantly building new fulfillment centers, but the ones in large cities will cover a large population of people.

They also announced a few weeks ago that they're starting Sunday deliveries. Now they just need to expand on their same-day grocery services!

Definitely one of the more influential companies and revolutionary CEOs of our time.

This feels like it could be exploited way too easily. Think about it, one could arrive at some crazies' doorstep, who'd figure out how to hack into it or make an exact replica, plant a bomb on it, and send it off somewhere. Not to mention the potential overall privacy intrusion.

What we're willing to allow for our ever-increasing impatience...

Seems more like a novelty than anything... I don't see this ever becoming the main mode of shipment from Amazon, lol.