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Walmart Announces Same-Day Drone Delivery in Six States

16 points by ddtaylor 4y ago

1970-01-01 4y ago
How long until we see stories of packages being shot-down and stolen? I wish I was kidding. I welcome the future of drone package shooting as a sport!
- sanjayio 4y ago
  This sounds ridiculous. How long did it take to see truck drivers taken hostage and payloads stolen?
- the_d3f4ult 4y ago
  99.9% of the time the drone is going to be worth way more than the package. Grabbing the cable and pulling the drone out of the sky for parts is more likely.
  - 1970-01-01 4y ago
    But what if you shot down 30 of them already? I suppose you could sell parts on the black market, but that would probably get you caught.
    - Mountain_Skies 4y ago
      Eventually Wal-Mart starts sending out armed drones to protect the delivery drones. You'll need a constant supply of your own attack drones to fight against Wal-Mart's security drone. (Just kidding... I hope!)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
enlightens 4y ago
https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2022/05/24/were-bringing-the-convenience-of-drone-delivery-to-4-million-u-s-households-in-partnership-with-droneup https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2022/05/24/were-bring...
genericone 4y ago
I'm surprised Walmart got their drone service running before Amazon did. Can anyone comment on where we are with amazon's Prime Air?
- SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
  Walmart is ruthless. I think with Amazon’s recent dominance people may discount Walmart but long term I am bull Walmart. They have a long, storied history of being the most brutal capitalists that recent history has ever seen. I think a great example of this is this old article: https://www.leanblog.org/2006/01/man-who-said-no-to-wal-mart/ https://www.leanblog.org/2006/01/man-who-said-no-to-wal-mart... I could absolutely see a reality where they went all in on drone tech simply because Amazon treated it as a secondary possibility.
Mountain_Skies 4y ago
Weight is obviously going to be the big limitation here but the delivery fee of $3.99 is extremely reasonable, both in time and gas saved. Going to guess they're operating this as a loss-leader for the time being.
nickmcc 4y ago
Here’s a relevant article about a recent report from the FAA regarding Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations, one of the key regulatory hurdles to drone delivery: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/faa-publishes-uas-beyond-visual-line-of-site-final-report-a-welcome-sign-for-commercial-drone-use-301501179.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/faa-publishes-uas-b... The actual document (24.6 MB PDF is available from here: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/documents/index.cfm/document/information/documentID/5431 https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committe...

16 points by ddtaylor 4y ago

1970-01-01 4y ago

How long until we see stories of packages being shot-down and stolen? I wish I was kidding. I welcome the future of drone package shooting as a sport!

sanjayio 4y ago
This sounds ridiculous. How long did it take to see truck drivers taken hostage and payloads stolen?
the_d3f4ult 4y ago
99.9% of the time the drone is going to be worth way more than the package. Grabbing the cable and pulling the drone out of the sky for parts is more likely.
- 1970-01-01 4y ago
  But what if you shot down 30 of them already? I suppose you could sell parts on the black market, but that would probably get you caught.
  - Mountain_Skies 4y ago
    Eventually Wal-Mart starts sending out armed drones to protect the delivery drones. You'll need a constant supply of your own attack drones to fight against Wal-Mart's security drone. (Just kidding... I hope!)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

enlightens 4y ago

https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2022/05/24/were-bringing-the-convenience-of-drone-delivery-to-4-million-u-s-households-in-partnership-with-droneup https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2022/05/24/were-bring...

genericone 4y ago

I'm surprised Walmart got their drone service running before Amazon did. Can anyone comment on where we are with amazon's Prime Air?

SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
Walmart is ruthless. I think with Amazon’s recent dominance people may discount Walmart but long term I am bull Walmart. They have a long, storied history of being the most brutal capitalists that recent history has ever seen. I think a great example of this is this old article: https://www.leanblog.org/2006/01/man-who-said-no-to-wal-mart/ https://www.leanblog.org/2006/01/man-who-said-no-to-wal-mart... I could absolutely see a reality where they went all in on drone tech simply because Amazon treated it as a secondary possibility.

Mountain_Skies 4y ago

Weight is obviously going to be the big limitation here but the delivery fee of $3.99 is extremely reasonable, both in time and gas saved. Going to guess they're operating this as a loss-leader for the time being.

nickmcc 4y ago

Here’s a relevant article about a recent report from the FAA regarding Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations, one of the key regulatory hurdles to drone delivery: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/faa-publishes-uas-beyond-visual-line-of-site-final-report-a-welcome-sign-for-commercial-drone-use-301501179.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/faa-publishes-uas-b... The actual document (24.6 MB PDF is available from here: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/documents/index.cfm/document/information/documentID/5431 https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committe...