I knew people who used drones 10 years ago or more, but they were called "RC" (i.e. remote-controlled) aircraft. They were also pricier, and required more expe

I knew people who used drones 10 years ago or more, but they were called "RC" (i.e. remote-controlled) aircraft. They were also pricier, and required more expertise to fly. Like many technologies, they had an exponential takeoff, which means a long period of slow improvement (including getting cheaper, lighter, and easier to control) that bootstrapped on itself. It is very much like how computers were around for decades before the microcomputer revolution of the 1980's.