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Amazon delivers parcels by robots

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology


Not April 1st is it? Can't believe this. Enough stuff goes astray as it is, do they honestly believe these things are going to work? Half the stuff would be on Ebay within an hour.

Comments

  • One drove past me in Lewisham last summer, they can sense when they are coming to a road and will stop/drive around you on the pavement too
  • edited January 2019
    Jeff Bezos and his robot armies .. take over the world by 2035 ..
    or could be that after a few thousand 'bots get nicked after doing deliveries, Amazon reverts to Deliveroo by white van man
  • Seems pretty clever. Sounds like it works reasonably well in San Francisco already. They won't be able to operate at large distances and you wouldn't imagine they would have high value items but definitely a interesting solution for specific use cases.

    I'd imagine they would operate from small Hubs in large cities and deliver within a relatively small radius, with a team tracking their progress, probably with cameras to snap pictures of any potential thieves.

    This could potentially work really well for some of the food delivery services.
  • Couldnt they just be picked up?
  • We’ve had these in Milton Keynes for a few months now. Were told if you see one stuck on a kerb etc to help it on its way :-)
  • In 25 years time you'll have to wonder what other jobs will be lost to technology
  • Up to now we have been able to replace automated jobs with higher quality jobs. There probably will be a tipping point however where we are losing net jobs. The solution isn't to ban automation, that is foolish and progress can't be stopped. The solution is taxation, and to ensure that the money saved from these advances goes back to the people rather than the pockets of a small number of people.
  • How does it knock on your door?
  • Iirc they were experimenting with drones a while back.

    It is the future, whether we like it or not, the friendly local postman is gonna be a thing of the past.
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  • hawksmoor said:

    How does it knock on your door?

    The same way as other delivery drivers do ;-)
  • edited January 2019
    Same as the ‘Alexa’ thing, I have ‘The Eigth Day’ ringing in my ears!!!!

    HAVE NONE OF YOU SEEN TERMINATOR!!!!????
  • edited January 2019
    My brother in law works for Amazon. He says their goal is to deliver 50% of all orders within one hour by the year 2022. Essentially, they plan to put the nail in the coffin of all retailers by selling everything so cheap and delivering it so fast, that no one will ever need to leave their house to buy something.
  • Essentially, they plan to put the nail in the coffin of all retailers by selling everything so cheap and delivering it so fast, that no one will ever need to leave their house to buy something.

    Just as well really as you won’t be able to move outside your house for robots!
  • Well the robots aren't working in Cheshire - delivery expected supposedly today and no sign whatsoever!

    Muppets!
  • edited January 2019
    I am also good friends with a techie who has been the business for 25 years and knows the company well. He laid out for me things Amazon is currently planning within the next 5 years and it just shook my head.

    - They have an ever growing fleet of aircraft that go everywhere within each continent they do business. They plan to start offering rides for Prime members on those planes for very little money and possibly for free. This will hurt every domestic airline.

    - The are working on their own Alexa Phone. It will use mostly voice recognition and will be able to do most basic phone functions plus their own ever-growing app store, plus, of course, order Amazon stuff for you. The price of the phone? Free for Prime members, $100 for everyone else. 90% cheaper than a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone. Apple is toast according to the person I know, since the iPhone is the core of who they are.

    - Because Moore's Law has been falling apart for some time, the future of VR and gaming is the cloud. Since Amazon dominate the cloud, they plan to own the future of all online gaming, allowing super-powerful, highly-realistic gaming on their platform. The could become the toll bridge of all gaming companies, none of whom have the money to re-create such a powerful cloud operation to make VR a reality. Already one of their big media competitors (Netflix) uses Amazon Cloud for delivery of all their content to users. Gaming companies will be lining up up shortly.

    - PrimeCoin... a crypto currency to be used for all Prime members for secure purchasing all around the globe and from each other, without transaction costs or currency fees. Essentially, Amazon is going to built its own currency outside the regulations of any country.
  • I am also good friends with a techie who has been the business for 25 years and knows the company well. He laid out for me things Amazon is currently planning within the next 5 years and it just shook my head.

    - They have an ever growing fleet of aircraft that go everywhere within each continent they do business. They plan to start offering rides for Prime members on those planes for very little money and possibly for free. This will hurt every domestic airline.

    - The are working on their own Alexa Phone. It will use mostly voice recognition and will be able to do most basic phone functions plus their own ever-growing app store, plus, of course, order Amazon stuff for you. The price of the phone? Free for Prime members, $100 for everyone else. 90% cheaper than a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone. Apple is toast according to the person I know, since the iPhone is the core of who they are.

    - Because Moore's Law has been falling apart for some time, the future of VR and gaming is the cloud. Since Amazon dominate the cloud, they plan to own the future of all online gaming, allowing super-powerful, highly-realistic gaming on their platform. The could become the toll bridge of all gaming companies, none of whom have the money to re-create such a powerful cloud operation to make VR a reality. Already one of their big media competitors uses Amazon for delivery of all their content. Gaming companies will be lining up up shortly.

    - PrimeCoin... a crypto currency to be used for all Prime members for secure purchasing all around the globe and from each other, without transaction costs or currency fees. Essentially, Amazon is going to built its own currency outside the regulations of any country.

    Ah! But will they have invented the hoverboard?
  • My brother in law works for Amazon. He says their goal is to deliver 50% of all orders within one hour by the year 2022. Essentially, they plan to put the nail in the coffin of all retailers by selling everything so cheap and delivering it so fast, that no one will ever need to leave their house to buy something.

    And once the market is dominated by a few of these “technology” companies they will then form cartels and be able to milk the consumers as long as they like.
    There are obviously limitations to what can transported and the capacity of the carriers is an obvious problem unless there are thousands of them everywhere.
  • edited January 2019
    bobmunro said:

    Well the robots aren't working in Cheshire - delivery expected supposedly today and no sign whatsoever!

    Muppets!

    They’ve got muppets delivering in Cheshire?
  • How does it get passed if you have a gate to your front drive or a step down/up to the house.
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  • SamB09 said:

    How does it get passed if you have a gate to your front drive or a step down/up to the house.

    It throws it over the gate, like they do now!
  • My brother in law works for Amazon. He says their goal is to deliver 50% of all orders within one hour by the year 2022. Essentially, they plan to put the nail in the coffin of all retailers by selling everything so cheap and delivering it so fast, that no one will ever need to leave their house to buy something.

    And once the market is dominated by a few of these “technology” companies they will then form cartels and be able to milk the consumers as long as they like.
    There are obviously limitations to what can transported and the capacity of the carriers is an obvious problem unless there are thousands of them everywhere.
    Amazons primary goal is constant growth. Profit is always a secondary aim. They tend to constantly reinvest any profit back into developing new services/products. So far I don't think they have been accused of gouging. Maybe that changes down the road but not so far anyway.
  • Same as the ‘Alexa’ thing, I have ‘The Eigth Day’ ringing in my ears!!!!

    HAVE NONE OF YOU SEEN TERMINATOR!!!!????

    Alexa - how do you spell eighth ?
  • Couldnt they just be picked up?

    No, they have weapons to stop that.

    image
  • el-pietro said:

    My brother in law works for Amazon. He says their goal is to deliver 50% of all orders within one hour by the year 2022. Essentially, they plan to put the nail in the coffin of all retailers by selling everything so cheap and delivering it so fast, that no one will ever need to leave their house to buy something.

    And once the market is dominated by a few of these “technology” companies they will then form cartels and be able to milk the consumers as long as they like.
    There are obviously limitations to what can transported and the capacity of the carriers is an obvious problem unless there are thousands of them everywhere.
    Amazons primary goal is constant growth. Profit is always a secondary aim. They tend to constantly reinvest any profit back into developing new services/products. So far I don't think they have been accused of gouging. Maybe that changes down the road but not so far anyway.
    Maybe they are playing the long game.
    Profit is the name of the game, normally. They like to be be tax efficient and are selective where they do their transactions. I would suggest the company, while it likes to put the innovation front out there, it’s real motivation is money.
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