Photo credit: Daniel Reche
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
In an article titled “Look, Up In the Sky. It’s a Can of Soup,” The New York Times reports on what it calls Amazon’s “much-hyped” drone delivery project. As the subhead states, Amazon is now dropping small objects on driveways. As reporter David Streitfeld writes, “some customers are not sure what it delivers beyond minestrone.” Since the article may be behind a paywall, I’ll summarize the main points.
A decade ago, Amazon revealed its program for drone delivery that would be fast, innovative, and ubiquitous. Implementation was planned for 2015, but it took an additional eight years for the program to start on the outskirts of College Station, Texas. As the Times reports, “the venture as it currently exists is so underwhelming that Amazon can keep the drones in the air only by giving stuff away.” Streitfeld continues, “now that the drones finally exist in at least limited form, why did we think we needed them in the first place?”
Some of us never thought we needed drone delivery. We live close enough to markets to walk or drive to them once or twice a week. In rare emergency situations — someone has a cold and needs cough medicine, or one ingredient is missing for the dinner recipe — it’s not a big a deal to make a quick run to the market. For us, that happens maybe a handful of times each year.
Current drone delivery technology is limited. Only one item can be delivered at a time, it can’t be too bulky or weigh more than five pounds, it can’t be breakable and the drones can’t fly if it’s too hot, windy, or rainy. The article reports that one Amazon customer ordered medication, but by the time it reached the driveway it had melted in the Texas heat. The recipient also needs to put out a landing target and has to worry that the package doesn’t roll into the street. If a car is parked in the driveway, the drone won’t land.
The article doesn’t discuss how drone delivery might work for apartment dwellers. Would there be rooftop delivery sites? Most apartment building roofs are not open to the residents, for safety and security reasons, unless there’s a rooftop garden or swimming pool.
The article discusses Amazon’s planned improvements in its drone technology, and the entry of other companies into the drone delivery business. I’m certain that future versions of delivery drones, from Amazon or other companies, will have larger payloads and will solve some of the current problems. But for consumer products or services to be successful, they have to fulfill a human need. Other than giving consumers the annoying buzz of drones, something not mentioned in the Times article, drone delivery seems to me to be a technology in search of a purpose. In my opinion, it may never find one.
