Drones tend to be a polarizing subject. Some hate them, citing a number of reasons, while others think that they can pave the way for a more efficient future. In the later camp sits Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. His company received a second go ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin testing of Amazon drones for package delivery. Amazon berated the FAA earlier this year, claiming that the administration took so long to come to a reasonable decision that the technology Amazon had developed was now obsolete.
Back in 2013, Bezos stated that he believes drones could dramatically lower the time and manpower needed to get packages where they need to go. Called Amazon Prime Air, the unmanned aircraft vehicles could deliver a package of less than five pounds within thirty minutes of ordering. The big upshot for Amazon is that a large majority of its shipments fall under that weight restriction. One hang up is that the customer needs to be within ten miles of an Amazon shipment center. Rural customers shouldn’t expect Amazon drones hovering around their property anytime in the near future.
Amazon Drones Get The G0-Ahead
The FAA is restricting Amazon to speeds of one-hundred miles an hour and an altitude of four-hundred feet. Amazon, which is by far the largest internet retailer in the U.S., believes that it can continue to dominate its markets through the use of drones. But it will face opposition. According to a 2013 Pew Research Poll, nearly every single country in the world is overwhelmingly against the use of unmanned aircraft vehicles, particularly for surveillance, with the notable exceptions of the U.S., Israel (which exports a large amount of drones), and Kenya.
The use of drones for both individual private and commercial use has been a hot topic for the last few years in Congress. The initial set of rules by the FAA came out in February, but there are still a number of tweaks that need to be made to the laws before companies like Amazon are satisfied. At the time of this article, Amazon has not published much information on its website, but claims that safety and security will be two of its top priorities as they move forward.
Although Amazon drones might be great for delivering packages, unmanned vehicles, in general, will make it easy to film shots like those seen in “One Year of Paragliding – A Different Perspective.” No need to strap a camera onto your helmet:
