Was going to put this in the terminator thread but thought it warranted its own.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/01/technology/amazon-drone-delivery/

One article mentioned 30 minute delivery times.

Great publicity for Amazon, but will it happen? Hmmm, not sure.

Regulation is one big hurdle it will have to overcome, but who wants to see zillions of drones buzzing around the sky all day long? I think the aesthetic may kill the idea.

We're looking forward to it.

http://i.imgur.com/XRtsM9Z.jpg

<added>

Phooey!  Bezos called me to say he'd put me on the alpha list.  But while I was out.....

http://i.imgur.com/1OVaAQ0.jpg

Hahahaha that last pic is awesome 

Hehehe, nice marketing stunt from Amazon though. It's everywhere.

amazon prime mentioned all over the web in time for peak buying season.  Smart.

Yep, excellent marketing, but there may be some truth in it.

China has already been testing it:
http://qz.com/120654/china-could-become-the-first-country-to-legalize-parcel-delivery-by-drone/

...article from September.

It's do-able, at least for some customers.  People are picturing droids leaving a central warehouse and covering some distance with the package in tow.  I see a UPS-type truck driving through the neighborhoods serving as a transport/mothership.  The droids will just travel short distances, probably homing in on an rfid chip-laden delivery pad or self-locking pod.

I wish they would save their money and just focus on finally getting Wonkavision to work right. I think with today's giant screens, we might be ready for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPi71LSZxT0

Won't work out in the country, especially during duck season.

UPS says they've been working on it, too.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/3/5169878/ups-is-researching-its-own-delivery-drones-to-compete-with-amazons

>duck season

See my first image link above


Again, this would work from a mothership truck platform, basically just eliminating the last few hundred feet of the delivery.  The bigger question is whether the truck has to have a human driver. It's ironic that we've come to accept the far more complex automated driving systems.

Liability is going to be a problem.  Some drone goes wonky and chops up my roof or takes out my digital antenna.

What's the market segment for half hour drone delivery, business or residential?

I think RC is right there has to be some sort of delivery pad/locker setup.  Right now UPS delivers onto the shelter of my front porch.  Hard for a drone to do that.

Im a little skeptical that the legal hurdles can be overcome.  But I expect to see lay encforcement and DNR/wildlife management use of drones to be heavy in the near future.

Oh look, Google's joining the party -www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/04/google-robots-amazon-drones-android-droids

We're going to need a control tower in our yards to handle the traffic.

>liability

Umm, the G autonomous car has been safer than humans.   Actuarily speaking, insurance rates should go down --it'll never happen because drones will be an easy tax & insurance revenue stream for bureaucracies.