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YAHANDA: A gift from above

Amazon’s use of drones to deliver goods is more than a publicity stunt

Drones evoke images of armed, remote-controlled aircrafts — a military and surveillance technology that has drawn great controversy in recent years. Drones seem to be the future of warfare. Yet soon drones may be seen performing more peaceful actions. This time, instead of augmenting America’s military, drones will be used to enhance its consumerism by serving as automated delivery men.

Online retail giant Amazon on Sunday announced its newest major initiative: Amazon Prime Air. This program is scheduled to begin in 2015, and will feature delivery of Amazon products by drones. Amazon claims that a customer can order a product that weighs under five pounds — which Amazon says constitutes 86 percent of purchases — and have it delivered to his doorstep in less than 30 minutes.

I admit that when I first saw articles and Amazon’s YouTube video about this project, I was not immediately convinced that it was as revolutionary a maneuver as Amazon is promoting. Are we as a culture so obsessed with rapid consumption, I thought, that we will widely pay for drones to deliver items so soon after we order them? After all, Amazon does not offer products that necessitate such swift distribution — at least not now. Who knows: maybe in the future doctors will be able to purchase organs off Amazon and have them airlifted to needy donors within half an hour. After all, drones have already found a niche delivering rescue supplies to those who cannot be quickly reached by rescue teams. Despite Amazon Prime Air’s potential, it’s just a gimmicky way to fuel some shoppers’ desires for instant gratification.

After reading about the program some more, though, I realized that I like the idea of drone delivery. Drones promote efficiency when it comes to delivering goods. From a convenience standpoint, there are always improvements to be made to ensure that products arrive more quickly. I take advantage of Amazon Prime — Amazon’s free two-day shipping service — whenever I can. Amazon Prime Air is even faster, so it makes sense that consumers would choose that option. Who wouldn’t want to order a pair of socks online at three o’clock in class and be able to wear them in his intramural basketball game at four? Amazon has continued to prove its commitment toward more streamlined consumption through initiatives such as the Kindle and Amazon Instant Video. Perhaps Amazon Prime Air is not just a publicity stunt, but a realistic step toward further improving the efficiency by which Amazon delivers its goods.

That being said, Amazon still has to work out the details of its plan with the FAA in order to fully implement drone delivery. And while it will be interesting to see how this new delivery method will change both Amazon’s business and the way that people shop, its overall impact is yet to be seen. From a logistical standpoint, drone delivery will likely be confined to smaller purchases. Even though Amazon sells mainly small items, this is nonetheless a setback. Larger items would necessitate bigger delivery drones, which would be much harder to navigate than small ones. Plus, drones above a certain size probably won’t be allowed to clog up free airspace. So consumers will only be able to receive certain items via drone. Amazon, then, won’t dominate all shipping, and more traditional stores will not have to close because they cannot meet consumers’ needs quickly enough. On the upside, drone delivery has great potential, and other companies are sure to copy Amazon’s strategy by providing more efficient service. Some firms are already thinking along the same lines: Domino’s Pizza released a video earlier this year in which the company highlighted drones capable of delivering pizzas.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos imagines a future in which swarms of delivery drones bringing products to people everywhere are a common — albeit unsightly — phenomenon. I, and surely many other shoppers, love the idea of increased convenience offered by drone delivery. Even if the service does not have the impact that Amazon is envisioning, it will certainly serve as more than just an advertising scheme.

Alex Yahanda is a senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily. His columns run Wednesdays.

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