Delivery Drones to Usher in Economic TransformationNicholas West The Internet absolutely blew up yesterday with reports of Americas largest online retailer, Amazon.com, researching the move to a drone delivery platform called Prime Air. The announcement from CEO Jeff Bezos has spurred an element of disdain and humor about the proposal. Here is a parody of what Amazons UK competitor, Waterstones, proposes in response: However, it seems that Amazon is taking the project quite seriously. Similar to the discovery of surveillance drones back in 2007, there appears to be a bit of nervous laughter attempting to dismiss the entrance of commercial drones into U.S. airspace. Nevertheless, the trend toward automated delivery systems, coupled with drones being embraced fully by Congress to fly in U.S. airspace by 2015 demands a closer look at the potential transformation of the economy. In fact, Amazon is far from the first to invest in the concept, but they are by far the biggest. While Waterstones might mock the idea of book delivery, its already been developed in Australia. Here is how it is envisioned to work: The target date of 2015 is an interesting one, as youll remember above that its the exact date where drones are expected to gain widespread approval for flights inside the United States. The video report below about Jeff Bezos announcement on 60 Minutes for his target date acknowledges the hurdle, as well as an integration time that could extend 4-5 years beyond that. As also noted in the report, tech writers are not as dismissive of the concept as Amazons competitors or some of the general public making statements on Twitter and other social media. One might doubt how Amazon could deliver its vast array of products in any practical way, especially those at higher weight levels, but 86 percent of Amazons business is items 5 pounds or less, which makes the plan for fleets of small, light octocopters feasible enough that Bezos stated emphatically, It will work and it will happen, and its gonna be a lot of fun. (Source) The surge in company development of autonomous transportation highlighted at the beginning of this article is a major game changer when one takes into account the potential elimination of a massive amount of human employment that currently transports consumer goods into the hands of buyers. Tech site GIGAOM also emphatically titled a recent article, Consumer drones are coming, and they will change everything. Despite listing the main concerns: namely, potential frequent crashes and invasion of privacy, writer Signe Brewster feels that the technology is too attractive and transformative not to explore. Environmental benefits are also being touted, no doubt to introduce further economic and political acceptance. Thats probably not a position shared by the vast number of truck drivers employed, however. Yet, as Business Week explains, this concept is one that would satisfy customers as well as shareholders, while fully embracing the growth in e-commerce; a tough combination of benefits for any company to ignore: Another selling point is being explored by Matternet, a company interested in bringing a vast global connectivity via drones, similar to the Internet. Employing the tagline drones are good CEOAndreas Raptopolous gave a TED lecture where he highlighted the inherent access and low cost of drone delivery: Whenever we see a merger of political will, consumer interest in receiving products as fast as possible, and now a mega company like Amazon coming to the fore to offer logistics of how this service will make the lives of all Americans more convenient, its definitely no laughing matter. Add in a bit of feel-good, and the PR push is on to welcome drones as a part of everyday life. Its worth concluding with the same must-see documentary that Eric Blair concluded his article with yesterday. Whether or not Amazons specific program can manage to overcome the physical safety issues, autonomous delivery systems and robotics pose a very real threat to the livelihood of human beings who arent prepared for the future economy. Here is what you need to know in order to stay relevant . Please also review these 3 recent articles that encompass the impact of drones and robotics: 