But as much of an Amazon fanboy as I am, this drone program has to be one of the dumbest services to pride in our day. Originally pitched to the world in 2013 by Jeff Bezos, the drone-delivery concept was expected to revolutionize how deliveries are made and further reduce the time between purchase and material satisfaction. This revolution has yet to happen for technical and legal reasons, and because the public appears uninterested in a program that does more to benefit the vendor than the consumer.
The purported benefits of drone delivery include logistical efficiency, reduced fuel costs and staffing needs, and emissions reductions. While Amazon may eventually pass along these savings to the consumer, the consumer must suffer a “6.5 feet wide and almost 4 feet tall” drone plopping boxes down on his lawn. A whirring, sideways linebacker birthing smiling boxes on one’s property is not a sales pitch that gets my heart beating faster, but it does prompt the only-semi-irrational impulse to grope for the Mossberg. According to the Post report, locals just finding out about the drones might be feeling this impulse too:
A man at a local archery shop commented jokingly, “Target practice!”
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