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I watched the videos about this, and compared against the videos of GoogleX Wing. I just don't get how they can be so different, or more precisely, how or why

I watched the videos about this, and compared against the videos of GoogleX Wing. I just don't get how they can be so different, or more precisely, how or why Wing is doing what it's doing. This Zipline stuff is launching simple, low-cost vehicles, dropping very valuable (even life-saving) things from parachutes as simply as they can. Google is launching very complex (part helicopter, part fixed wing) aircraft, lowering $5 coffee drinks to people so it doesn't spill. How can it be so different? Do they just... have too much money and are over engineering something because they can? or have lost the plot? Or will they eventually get into delivery of some good that will justify the cost? Or maybe I'm being a little harsh and it's just a reflection that in developed countries, life-saving needs are already taken care of quite well at the local level and all we have are coffee drinks to satisfy people's urgent desires nowadays.

makeitdouble 4y ago
Where the development team is based physically is the main factor I think. You can deliver the hot coffee to the manager who makes the decision wether the project is worth doing at scale or not. They might have some doubt, but there will be an actual coffee in their hands. Convincing the same manager to green light a potentially life saving project for stuff they'll never see with their eyes, on the other side of the earth is way more difficult, that's just human nature I think. This is also why I think empowering (~= sponsoring/supporting) local people to solve themselves their problems is critical and can't be replaced by drop in solutions sent from big brains who have no skin in the game. It sometimes work, but it would be the exception and not the rule.
jpm_sd 4y ago
Former Google Xer here. Yes, "they just... have too much money and are over engineering something because they can". But also they are trying to fly precisely through extremely busy and regulated airspace to make a pin-point delivery of a low margin product. So you really do need a hover-capable vehicle and a method of landing within ~1m of your target. This may or may not actually be a good business model, but as you point out, in fancy countries we already have roads and plentiful hospitals. Zipline's drop zones are larger and their operating area is so rural (not even roads! let alone air traffic!) that they had the freedom to choose simple, reliable design strategies.
- supernova87a 4y ago
  Btw, how did you feel about being part of Google and then spun off as a stand-alone company (if you were during that phase)? Did that cause big changes in company strategy, or more practically, people working there to regard it differently or want to leave? Do you think the outlook is good for the company?
  - jpm_sd 4y ago
    I worked on Loon, not Wing, and I left before the Loon spin-out.

makeitdouble 4y ago

Where the development team is based physically is the main factor I think. You can deliver the hot coffee to the manager who makes the decision wether the project is worth doing at scale or not. They might have some doubt, but there will be an actual coffee in their hands. Convincing the same manager to green light a potentially life saving project for stuff they'll never see with their eyes, on the other side of the earth is way more difficult, that's just human nature I think. This is also why I think empowering (~= sponsoring/supporting) local people to solve themselves their problems is critical and can't be replaced by drop in solutions sent from big brains who have no skin in the game. It sometimes work, but it would be the exception and not the rule.

jpm_sd 4y ago

Former Google Xer here. Yes, "they just... have too much money and are over engineering something because they can". But also they are trying to fly precisely through extremely busy and regulated airspace to make a pin-point delivery of a low margin product. So you really do need a hover-capable vehicle and a method of landing within ~1m of your target. This may or may not actually be a good business model, but as you point out, in fancy countries we already have roads and plentiful hospitals. Zipline's drop zones are larger and their operating area is so rural (not even roads! let alone air traffic!) that they had the freedom to choose simple, reliable design strategies.

supernova87a 4y ago
Btw, how did you feel about being part of Google and then spun off as a stand-alone company (if you were during that phase)? Did that cause big changes in company strategy, or more practically, people working there to regard it differently or want to leave? Do you think the outlook is good for the company?
- jpm_sd 4y ago
  I worked on Loon, not Wing, and I left before the Loon spin-out.