Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by jessaustin on Monday November 30, 2015 @12:04AM
(#10647826)
I was under the impression that UPS/FedEx are going to merge to form UP/Ex, which will utilize railgun launchers and aerodynamically-self-steering packaging to deliver anywhere in a 100-mile radius from a single facility?
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by bduerst on Monday November 30, 2015 @01:53AM
(#10648164)
Using the autodidactic deep-learning A.I. that "corrects" it's targeting over time through an IoT police scanner.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by dingo_bat on Monday November 30, 2015 @03:13AM
(#10648353)
Is this a reference to Rainbows End or am I just imagining things?
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by mschuster91 on Sunday November 29, 2015 @09:20PM
(#10647237)
USPS won't care, their (legally protected) business is shipping letters.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by foobarian on Sunday November 29, 2015 @11:20PM
(#10647680)
I always thought USPS would be a perfect partner for Amazon since their post offices would be ideal takeoff points for the drones. They are everywhere and they already deal with receiving packages.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by thinkling on Sunday November 29, 2015 @11:27PM
(#10647705)
USPS was worried enough to agree to start delivering packages for Amazon on Sundays, which must've required some interesting negotiations with their unions.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by toomuchtodo on Monday November 30, 2015 @09:04PM
(#10653247)
Sunday delivery workers are paid just above minimum wage and are non-union.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by giaour on Monday November 30, 2015 @02:55AM
(#10648316)
Delivering letters costs the USPS more than they charge customers; they make money on package postage and use that to offset the losses they incur delivering mail.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by mnglkhn2 on Monday November 30, 2015 @09:05PM
(#10653249)
Based on a comment in this thread which suggested that USPS would be a prime (no pun intended :) ) candidate for a partnership, especially due to the existing real-estate infrastructure. If we think about it: USPS can very easily deliver letters/magazines using Amazon's service.
What if Amazon soon will develop the AWS-of-postal-delivery infrastructure?!
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by dba7dba on Monday November 30, 2015 @02:05AM
(#10648189)
'The interesting thing is how do UPS/FedEx/USPS feel about this, considering that Amazon is aiming to "evolve" their business model?'
UPS/FedEx/USPS can feel whatever they want but there's not a darn thing they can do about it.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by jml3on on Monday November 30, 2015 @11:23AM
(#10650146)
I'd guess they'll be elated. Delivering packages in the far reaches of suburbia (and beyond) is probably costing them money, as it takes a lot of truck&driver time to deliver a single package. If we assume they maintain their hold on urban deliveries and let amazon take care of the suburbia ones; their margin will go up.
Also, I'll point out that in my area of suburbia, UPS/Fedex sometimes deliver to USPS and let USPS do the last mile. it's not hard to imagine they'd deliver to an amazon base station where robots & drones would take over.
Re:Amazon Shows Off New Prime Air Drone with Hybrid Design
by TaylorGood on Monday November 30, 2015 @11:23AM
(#10650142)
What Fedex does in my neighborhood I haven't seen prior.. they recently brought a gas-powered golf cart and the driver uses his truck as the "warehouse" and makes rounds all day.
If you notice, both video examples show the drone delivering at a house. It seems obvious that an urban setting is difficult to address. And actually delivery costs are higher in the suburbs, due to population spread, than in the cities.
The interesting thing is how do UPS/FedEx/USPS feel about this, considering that Amazon is aiming to "evolve" their business model? We should soon hear about FedEx/UPS trying to do drone delivery. But this is not only logistics but also a lot of other software and I think Amazon might be better suited for it.