5 ms·

GoPro Developing Line of Consumer Drones

50 points by whyenot 12y ago

sunnynagra 12y ago
Google Link to get past pay wall: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fgopro-developing-line-of-consumer-drones-1417020883&ei=aXt2VN6kMoSuogTF_4KQBQ&usg=AFQjCNHFcQfN6FLbccvLm0E3PKqhvxxn1g https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...
- frandroid 12y ago
  That's not working for me, even in an anonymous browser window.
  - anonfunction 12y ago
    No need for anonymous window, if you go to a WSJ link from google search results it should work. Try clicking the first organic listing on this page: https://www.google.com/search?q=GoPro+Developing+Line+of+Consumer+Drones https://www.google.com/search?q=GoPro+Developing+Line+of+Con...
Exenith 12y ago
Why? There's plenty of consumer drones around already, heh...
- andygates 12y ago
  The current de facto standard is a GoPro on some sort of DJI or DJI-clone quadcopter. That's a monopoly the brand would be foolish not to try to exploit - and rebadging a clone quad with some GoPro-ness (physical robustness, integrated photography and control app, some follow-me features maybe) is a fair bet.
michaelcrn 12y ago
Great, more plastic trash. Nobody talks about what happens with these drones when they break, are outdated, or the owner dumps them: they end up in our oceans or landfill, which eventually makes its way to the oceans through floods. The companies should incur this environmental damage. Instead they only reap the profits and let us keep the damage.
- sunnynagra 12y ago
  Is there something specifically about drones that makes them have a larger environmental impact than any other average consumer product?
  - anonfunction 12y ago
    Well any product with an electronic component is harder to recycle as they have many different raw materials that have been blended / melded together.
    - zobzu 12y ago
      to be honest i fear this is more of an issue with smartphones and other things than drones. but yes in general its a problem. not sure why its being directly at gopro in particular.
- anonfunction 12y ago
  I highly suggest reading the book "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things" by Michael Braungart & William McDonough. Essentially the book explains how things currently are made in a "Cradle to Grave" style, meaning products are sourced from the earth and then deposited back in an unusable form. Cradle to cradle would be where a product is made and when it's life is up we reuse the product's materials to build a new product. This is not how recycling works. Recycling could be better described as "downcycling" in that every time say plastic is recycled it's grade is lowered and it becomes less useful due to being mixed with other plastics and contaminates. The book explains this much better than I and is also a great primer on material science. Here's a simple example of how a consumer product can be created in a cradle to cradle fashion. 1) Raw materials are sourced from the earth. 2) Raw materials are manufactured together in a way where they can easily be seperated. 3) Product ends up with a consumer. 4) Product lifecycle ends. 5) Manufacturer pays consumer for the product. 6) Manufacturer uses product's raw materials for step 2.
habosa 12y ago
I really hope they don't use the word 'drone' when these go to market. This is my new least favorite overloaded word since 'hack'. There are two kinds of autonomous flying machines that we call drones: small quadcopters that hobbyists fly around, and winged planes that our govt. uses to monitor and attack their enemies. Most people think drone == drone. So there are two camps. The first thinks all drones are killing machines. This is wrong and causes irrational fear about our cool toys. The other camp thinks all drones are the friendly Amazon delivery helicopters. This reduces their concerns about a troublesome government program. Sorry for the mini-rant. I just wish we'd separate the terms so we can deal with toys and war machines separately.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > There are two kinds of autonomous flying machines that we call drones: small quadcopters that hobbyists fly around, and winged planes that our govt. uses to monitor and attack their enemies. In most cases (in both classes), aren't these remotely piloted rather than autonomous? (And there are several others -- the term is generally used for remotely piloted vehicles, including, e.g, target drones.) > I just wish we'd separate the terms so we can deal with toys and war machines separately. "Military drones", "Armed drones", "Predators", are all terms of various specificity that are in use to specifically refer to the "war machine" kind. "Delivery drones", "civilian drones", and other terms of varying specificity are in use to specifically refer to the other kind. I don't really see any problem when "drone" itself is used in a context where the kind of drone doesn't need further specification in the term, since the longer description already tells you which class it falls in.
- ahoge 12y ago
  They are drones though. A drone is just an unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The armed ones are in a subcategory called "unmanned combat aerial vehicle" (UCAV) or just "combat drone".
- sjtrny 12y ago
  I dislike the use of the word drone too. To me it means something that is autonomous. Most hobby quadcopters are not autonomous, although they could be with a sophisticated flight controller. So they can technically be autonomous but usually they are not. So "drone" is a generalisation. It's kind of like saying "I drove my vehicle" rather than "I drove my car".
nakedrobot2 12y ago
What is this really? GoPro is now a public company. Their IPO was for around ONE BILLION Now their market cap is TEN BILLION Are they really worth that? Well, no not really :-) They desperately need to justify this valuation somehow. Watch this space. They'll be acquiring startups left and right most likely. And entering new markets. What is the flavor of the month? Drones of course. So, there you are. That said, I think everyone will have very high expectations for this. But who will it be for? Drones are the new "toy for grownups", very similar to GoPro cameras. Anyone in the market for a DJI phantom, or one of the myriad Pixhawk-based "follow me drones" to hit kickstarter last year (airdog, etc.)

50 points by whyenot 12y ago

Google Link to get past pay wall: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fgopro-developing-line-of-consumer-drones-1417020883&ei=aXt2VN6kMoSuogTF_4KQBQ&usg=AFQjCNHFcQfN6FLbccvLm0E3PKqhvxxn1g https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...

frandroid 12y ago
That's not working for me, even in an anonymous browser window.
- anonfunction 12y ago
  No need for anonymous window, if you go to a WSJ link from google search results it should work. Try clicking the first organic listing on this page: https://www.google.com/search?q=GoPro+Developing+Line+of+Consumer+Drones https://www.google.com/search?q=GoPro+Developing+Line+of+Con...

Exenith 12y ago

Why? There's plenty of consumer drones around already, heh...

andygates 12y ago
The current de facto standard is a GoPro on some sort of DJI or DJI-clone quadcopter. That's a monopoly the brand would be foolish not to try to exploit - and rebadging a clone quad with some GoPro-ness (physical robustness, integrated photography and control app, some follow-me features maybe) is a fair bet.

michaelcrn 12y ago

Great, more plastic trash. Nobody talks about what happens with these drones when they break, are outdated, or the owner dumps them: they end up in our oceans or landfill, which eventually makes its way to the oceans through floods. The companies should incur this environmental damage. Instead they only reap the profits and let us keep the damage.

sunnynagra 12y ago
Is there something specifically about drones that makes them have a larger environmental impact than any other average consumer product?
- anonfunction 12y ago
  Well any product with an electronic component is harder to recycle as they have many different raw materials that have been blended / melded together.
  - zobzu 12y ago
    to be honest i fear this is more of an issue with smartphones and other things than drones. but yes in general its a problem. not sure why its being directly at gopro in particular.
anonfunction 12y ago
I highly suggest reading the book "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things" by Michael Braungart & William McDonough. Essentially the book explains how things currently are made in a "Cradle to Grave" style, meaning products are sourced from the earth and then deposited back in an unusable form. Cradle to cradle would be where a product is made and when it's life is up we reuse the product's materials to build a new product. This is not how recycling works. Recycling could be better described as "downcycling" in that every time say plastic is recycled it's grade is lowered and it becomes less useful due to being mixed with other plastics and contaminates. The book explains this much better than I and is also a great primer on material science. Here's a simple example of how a consumer product can be created in a cradle to cradle fashion. 1) Raw materials are sourced from the earth. 2) Raw materials are manufactured together in a way where they can easily be seperated. 3) Product ends up with a consumer. 4) Product lifecycle ends. 5) Manufacturer pays consumer for the product. 6) Manufacturer uses product's raw materials for step 2.

habosa 12y ago

I really hope they don't use the word 'drone' when these go to market. This is my new least favorite overloaded word since 'hack'. There are two kinds of autonomous flying machines that we call drones: small quadcopters that hobbyists fly around, and winged planes that our govt. uses to monitor and attack their enemies. Most people think drone == drone. So there are two camps. The first thinks all drones are killing machines. This is wrong and causes irrational fear about our cool toys. The other camp thinks all drones are the friendly Amazon delivery helicopters. This reduces their concerns about a troublesome government program. Sorry for the mini-rant. I just wish we'd separate the terms so we can deal with toys and war machines separately.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> There are two kinds of autonomous flying machines that we call drones: small quadcopters that hobbyists fly around, and winged planes that our govt. uses to monitor and attack their enemies. In most cases (in both classes), aren't these remotely piloted rather than autonomous? (And there are several others -- the term is generally used for remotely piloted vehicles, including, e.g, target drones.) > I just wish we'd separate the terms so we can deal with toys and war machines separately. "Military drones", "Armed drones", "Predators", are all terms of various specificity that are in use to specifically refer to the "war machine" kind. "Delivery drones", "civilian drones", and other terms of varying specificity are in use to specifically refer to the other kind. I don't really see any problem when "drone" itself is used in a context where the kind of drone doesn't need further specification in the term, since the longer description already tells you which class it falls in.
ahoge 12y ago
They are drones though. A drone is just an unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The armed ones are in a subcategory called "unmanned combat aerial vehicle" (UCAV) or just "combat drone".
sjtrny 12y ago
I dislike the use of the word drone too. To me it means something that is autonomous. Most hobby quadcopters are not autonomous, although they could be with a sophisticated flight controller. So they can technically be autonomous but usually they are not. So "drone" is a generalisation. It's kind of like saying "I drove my vehicle" rather than "I drove my car".

nakedrobot2 12y ago

What is this really? GoPro is now a public company. Their IPO was for around ONE BILLION Now their market cap is TEN BILLION Are they really worth that? Well, no not really :-) They desperately need to justify this valuation somehow. Watch this space. They'll be acquiring startups left and right most likely. And entering new markets. What is the flavor of the month? Drones of course. So, there you are. That said, I think everyone will have very high expectations for this. But who will it be for? Drones are the new "toy for grownups", very similar to GoPro cameras. Anyone in the market for a DJI phantom, or one of the myriad Pixhawk-based "follow me drones" to hit kickstarter last year (airdog, etc.)