Here’s an image makeover for drones. Instead of overseas killing machines, they might become the friendly postmen of the skies.
During a 60 Minutes segment on Amazon’s holiday shopping season, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that the company had been developing drones that will eliminate the need for a shipping service, by traveling through the air to deliver orders. The drones would be able to deliver a package weighing 5 pounds or less in under half an hour.
Here’s a video from Amazon showing how the delivery drones would work:
So does this mean we’ll soon be seeing virtual robot mailmen whizzing past our heads (or dropping packages on them?) Bezos says the drones could become a reality as soon as 2015, once the company figures out how to get past FAA regulations about things that can fly in US airspace. There would also be plenty of safety regulations to comply with, to make sure the drones don’t injure anybody in the delivery process.
Still, it’s a vision of the future straight out of The Jetsons that could revolutionize the way we shop online, and if Bezos is able to make it happen, we’re in for some exciting (or very scary) times.
