Those of you that do a lot of online shopping know just how addicting it can be. There is simply no better shopping experience than being able to type in exactly what you want, seeing pictures and customer reviews all in one place, and then being able to order it on demand, all without even wasting a drop of gas to drive to a store.
The only downside, of course, is waiting for shipping.
Amazon is working on a way to fix this problem, making it so that waiting for long periods of time for shipping certain items will one day be a thing of the past. In fact, Amazon aims to have some items at your front door within as little as 30 minutes using a new drone delivery service that is completely separate from the U.S. postal service, UPS, or even FedEx.
Although it sounds like complete science fiction because of the complications of delivering packages, this is anything but fiction. Amazon hopes to have its drones starting to deliver packages in the near future after technology catches up to the idea and government regulation makes such an idea possible. These drones will fly approximately 400 feet above ground and can carry boxes weighing up to five founds.
The drones are high-tech, and are designed to find an optimal landing location based on the address of the resident that placed the order. This means intelligently dropping the package off at the doorstep and then flying away when the task is completed.
The concept was originally publicized by Amazon in 2013, but as the company is beginning to take a much more serious stance in making it happen, the technology is coming together very nicely and will one day be a reality. The online marketplace is calling this service Amazon Prime Air.
Such a move would take a lot of load off of delivery professionals and would also give Amazon more control over meeting delivery estimates. The service would also only be available to Amazon Prime members, which is a subscription-based service that customers pay a yearly fee for.
On the flip side, it would require Amazon to have a larger footprint in delivery areas, making it possible for the drones to actually make it to their destination within their 15-mile limit before their batteries died. This would mean extending the company's vast array of warehouses, or having Amazon vehicles launch the drones while in the middle of delivering.
Nevertheless, if such an idea did come to fruition, it would certainly change the online buying industry forever. Who ever would have thought that an online purchase would yield a delivery in just under 30 minutes?
Soon, maybe we’ll even be 3D printing our online purchases, and not waiting for shipping at all.
Source: Amazon
