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> Imagine that the drones would need to follow quite stringent routes for safety and noise avoidance Does that matter if I can IPO the "future of delivery" for

> Imagine that the drones would need to follow quite stringent routes for safety and noise avoidance Does that matter if I can IPO the "future of delivery" for billions? Corporations consistently show us they are willing to eat fines as "the cost of doing business", especially if its a means to eating all competition. I like the idea of quiet, localised drone delivery over trucks, but I also lament a future that has me looking into the sky to see no birds, only Ama-line™ drones dragging TikTok banners behind them. The future probably has no birds anyway - nor can I halt the drone delivery progress, so I guess it's not worth thinking about.

inetknght 3y ago
> Does that matter if I can IPO the "future of delivery" for billions? Unless there's a downside, not really. The downsides are often hidden from the IPO. But, let's go on. > Corporations consistently show us they are willing to eat fines as "the cost of doing business", especially if its a means to eating all competition. I concur with you. Being willing to eat fines, for just about any reason, is unethical in my opinion. Being willing to destroy all competition is the opposite of my understanding of capitalism insomuch as I understand capitalism wants to encourage competition. And it's unfortunately very prevalent in societies that claim to love capitalism. > I also lament a future that has me looking into the sky to see no birds, only Ama-line™ drones dragging TikTok banners behind them. This is a valid complaint. I suggest that if you care about birds, with respect to drones, then you should become active in drone communities to determine the effects that drones have on birds. How do drone activities affect birds flying patterns or nesting habits? How do drones affect birds' food chains? Some birds have been known to have some level of intelligence and can mimic human behavior -- will birds mimic drone behavior? > The future probably has no birds anyway - nor can I halt the drone delivery progress, so I guess it's not worth thinking about. While I agree that, due to climate change, the future probably has far far fewer birds (perhaps even no birds), I think drone delivery is young enough that you can affect progress. There are government agencies that drone companies are beholden to; the FAA is certainly one of them, and the FAA (for things that fly) often works with the EPA (for things that affect the environment). There's plenty of avenues to affect the progress of drone delivery.
- bongobingo1 3y ago
  > I suggest that if you care about birds, with respect to drones, then you should become active in drone communities to determine the effects that drones have on birds. ... Without meaning to be snarky, what is your intent in this comment? I cant move the mountain that is US domestic policy from here, which will inevitably infect my country -- where it turns out I'm equally unable to effect policy (yes, I do vote, I have campaigned, things get pushed through anyway). It just reads as "Well if you care so much about birds, why dont you get into drones", which feels almost like a non sequitur. The birds were here before me, and before the drones. I cant imagine there are any studies done on the wide spread integration of birds and drones, we wont get any until after we have hundreds of drones in the air at one time. Then we'll be treated to repeated NYT articles labeled "Where have all the birds gone?", discovering that, in fact birds were ok with 1 drone on the weekend but have suddenly freaked out when there are 100s/km^3 of airspace. I sometimes see one or two drone pilots in summer, but largely they're non-existent here which might be the cause of some of my distaste for the idea of their proliferation. When they're here, they're loud and annoying (and scare my dog!). Probably I'm just being a curmudgeon.

inetknght 3y ago

> Does that matter if I can IPO the "future of delivery" for billions? Unless there's a downside, not really. The downsides are often hidden from the IPO. But, let's go on. > Corporations consistently show us they are willing to eat fines as "the cost of doing business", especially if its a means to eating all competition. I concur with you. Being willing to eat fines, for just about any reason, is unethical in my opinion. Being willing to destroy all competition is the opposite of my understanding of capitalism insomuch as I understand capitalism wants to encourage competition. And it's unfortunately very prevalent in societies that claim to love capitalism. > I also lament a future that has me looking into the sky to see no birds, only Ama-line™ drones dragging TikTok banners behind them. This is a valid complaint. I suggest that if you care about birds, with respect to drones, then you should become active in drone communities to determine the effects that drones have on birds. How do drone activities affect birds flying patterns or nesting habits? How do drones affect birds' food chains? Some birds have been known to have some level of intelligence and can mimic human behavior -- will birds mimic drone behavior? > The future probably has no birds anyway - nor can I halt the drone delivery progress, so I guess it's not worth thinking about. While I agree that, due to climate change, the future probably has far far fewer birds (perhaps even no birds), I think drone delivery is young enough that you can affect progress. There are government agencies that drone companies are beholden to; the FAA is certainly one of them, and the FAA (for things that fly) often works with the EPA (for things that affect the environment). There's plenty of avenues to affect the progress of drone delivery.

bongobingo1 3y ago
> I suggest that if you care about birds, with respect to drones, then you should become active in drone communities to determine the effects that drones have on birds. ... Without meaning to be snarky, what is your intent in this comment? I cant move the mountain that is US domestic policy from here, which will inevitably infect my country -- where it turns out I'm equally unable to effect policy (yes, I do vote, I have campaigned, things get pushed through anyway). It just reads as "Well if you care so much about birds, why dont you get into drones", which feels almost like a non sequitur. The birds were here before me, and before the drones. I cant imagine there are any studies done on the wide spread integration of birds and drones, we wont get any until after we have hundreds of drones in the air at one time. Then we'll be treated to repeated NYT articles labeled "Where have all the birds gone?", discovering that, in fact birds were ok with 1 drone on the weekend but have suddenly freaked out when there are 100s/km^3 of airspace. I sometimes see one or two drone pilots in summer, but largely they're non-existent here which might be the cause of some of my distaste for the idea of their proliferation. When they're here, they're loud and annoying (and scare my dog!). Probably I'm just being a curmudgeon.