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| An Amazon octocopter during a test flight. |
The reason that this topic intrigued me especially right now is because with Christmas coming up, holiday shopping becomes a real stress for everyone. All over the world, in the United States especially, consumers love the idea of one day shipping because it is easy and efficient. With the new delivery drone concept, Bezos claims that "It drops the package. You come and get your package and we can do half-hour deliveries".
Along with the efficient reasons for the drone delivery, the whole concept also offers a very environmentally friendly and green way of delivering orders. The robots are completely electric, using absolutely no gas. Compared to driving trucks and using airplanes are shipping means, the drones are much cleaner towards the environment, which could potentially revolutionize the shipping industry, along with the environmental issue that America faces today.
After researching the delivery drones, a lot of questions came up despite all of the potential upside that these octocopters could bring to the country. There is no questioning the evolution of technology in the work field, especially for manual labor. So, first of all how would these delivery drones negatively effect the work force in America? There is no question that thousands of jobs would be lost including truck drivers and mail delivery men or women. This is not just with drone delivery, but even robots used on assembly lines for example. Despite the efficient work they create, countless jobs would be taken over. And second, would public safety be an issue? How can we know for sure that these delivery drones don't break while mid flight and in the small chance possibly fall and hurt somebody? I am very interested to see how more of the testing goes with these octocopters, and if the whole concept of drone delivery really gets going in the years to come.
