3 ms·

...because there's a secondary step in getting it from a car to the doorstep?

by philmcc 11y ago

TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
Will drones or self-driving trucks include Magic Doorbell-Tropic Technology[tm]? How will they put deliveries into letterboxes? Or will there be a special Drone Nest Drop Off Utility Safebox[tm]? And so on. The more you think about the idea, the less practical it gets. I'm sure the problems can be solved. Obviously, you could retrofit your doorbell to include a drone code. Or make an app (it's always an app...) that alerts you when the drone is near. This is perfectly fine, unless you don't want to change your doorbell and/or don't have the right kind of phone and/or don't want your stuff stolen. There's a whiff of "Reinventing Yesterday's Technology for Tomorrow" about the idea. It looks a lot like a high school science show-and-tell trying to turn into a delivery system that can compete with 75 years of professional logistics expertise. I don't usually do "not invented here", but there are so many very obvious things that can go wrong, and so may ways users need to change what they do, that I think debates about air traffic control are a long way down the list of show-stopper issues that need (literally) bullet-proof solutions.
- VLM 11y ago
  "don't want your stuff stolen." I would like to see a startup for what amounts to background checked, bonded, doorman service. Someone in my neighborhood I could trust to take deliveries, stuff like that. Outsourcing trust, I guess. I could see drone delivery company "tipping" some old retired guy to solve their "last tenth of a mile" problem as he walks down the block to my house. Alternately make all uber (or insert other) driver watch some training videos and tell them to be at xyz address at abc time and they verify safety and walk the last 50 feet and hand deliver, for a modest tip of course. Presumably if I watched the training videos and didn't have badminton nets and kids pool and ham radio antennae in my backyard the drone could deliver directly to me and save me the cost.
- Retra 11y ago
  There are a couple ways to address these issues: For one, you could always have a human operator coordinate the landing and delivery process. They could coordinate delivery using a phone call. Secondly, you could have a drone deliver goods to a distribution truck (possibly with a special landing-pad marker on top,) and a human could then deliver the package manually. No advanced technology needed for either of these, it's just communication + drones.

...because there's a secondary step in getting it from a car to the doorstep?

by philmcc 11y ago

...because there's a secondary step in getting it from a car to the doorstep?

Will drones or self-driving trucks include Magic Doorbell-Tropic Technology[tm]? How will they put deliveries into letterboxes? Or will there be a special Drone Nest Drop Off Utility Safebox[tm]? And so on. The more you think about the idea, the less practical it gets. I'm sure the problems can be solved. Obviously, you could retrofit your doorbell to include a drone code. Or make an app (it's always an app...) that alerts you when the drone is near. This is perfectly fine, unless you don't want to change your doorbell and/or don't have the right kind of phone and/or don't want your stuff stolen. There's a whiff of "Reinventing Yesterday's Technology for Tomorrow" about the idea. It looks a lot like a high school science show-and-tell trying to turn into a delivery system that can compete with 75 years of professional logistics expertise. I don't usually do "not invented here", but there are so many very obvious things that can go wrong, and so may ways users need to change what they do, that I think debates about air traffic control are a long way down the list of show-stopper issues that need (literally) bullet-proof solutions.

VLM 11y ago
"don't want your stuff stolen." I would like to see a startup for what amounts to background checked, bonded, doorman service. Someone in my neighborhood I could trust to take deliveries, stuff like that. Outsourcing trust, I guess. I could see drone delivery company "tipping" some old retired guy to solve their "last tenth of a mile" problem as he walks down the block to my house. Alternately make all uber (or insert other) driver watch some training videos and tell them to be at xyz address at abc time and they verify safety and walk the last 50 feet and hand deliver, for a modest tip of course. Presumably if I watched the training videos and didn't have badminton nets and kids pool and ham radio antennae in my backyard the drone could deliver directly to me and save me the cost.
Retra 11y ago
There are a couple ways to address these issues: For one, you could always have a human operator coordinate the landing and delivery process. They could coordinate delivery using a phone call. Secondly, you could have a drone deliver goods to a distribution truck (possibly with a special landing-pad marker on top,) and a human could then deliver the package manually. No advanced technology needed for either of these, it's just communication + drones.