Pete Pachal, Mashable: "Amazon Prime Air is by far the most ambitious commercial drone program in development, but there's no reason it couldn't work. Today. Plenty of companies have demonstrated delivering goods via drone, including Domino's Pizza and the infamous TacoCopter. Although the flights are often promotional stunts (and not serious development programs, as Jeff Bezos says Amazon's is), they work. ... That tiny helicopter bringing you anything you desire on the Internet could be coming in for a smooth landing, after all."
Marcus Wohlsen, Wired: "The truth is that no one who buys discounted merchandise on Amazon today will have it delivered by drone, and such deliveries won't happen for years — if they happen at all. It's not just that the technology isn't up to the task yet. It's not just that federal regulations prohibit such flights over populated areas. It's that drone delivery doesn't make economic sense for Amazon, and it will never make sense unless the company completely overhauls its operation. ... Drones for Amazon, at least today, aren't about owning the future. They're about owning the Cyber Monday news cycle, a goal they've achieved with great success thanks to 60 Minutes."
Matt Burns,TechCrunch: "If any company in the U.S. could pull this off, it would be Amazon. The retailer has demonstrated its knack for modernization time and time again. Of course there is a list of potential issues, including regulations, scaling and people with Airsoft guns. Innovation will overcome obstacles. However, the slope here is rather slippery. If Amazon can do this, why can't Walmart? Will this solution to decongest roads simply result in congestion 30 meters above the ground?"
Kevin Roose,New York: "By unveiling a huge drone program in progress, (Bezos is) sending a message to the FAA regulators and Senate committees who are currently considering how unmanned aircraft can be used commercially. And that message is: Don't even think about getting in our way. By floating a teaser about the drone program, and allowing the public to freak out about it, he's showing regulators how popular such a scheme would be, and how much backlash they'd face if they outlawed it. ... Think of the Amazon drones as a silly publicity stunt, if you wish. But don't forget that there's a much bigger prize at stake. Bezos doesn't just want customers to love the idea of drone-dropped packages arriving on doorsteps. He wants lawmakers to love it, too."
Dana Liebelson and Matt Connolly, Mother Jones: "All it could take is an effective drone-destroyer — a hunting rifle? laser weapon? laser pointer? — for a bandit to be watching your movies, wearing your slippers and making smoothies in your blender. Amazon claims that by 2015, it 'will be ready' to unleash delivery drones in U.S. skies — but America probably won't be."
Donna Tam, CNET: "Amazon may be on to something. For one, the technology behind autonomous drones has been around for a while. And as Amazon has demonstrated time and time again, it's willing to bet big on long-term projects. ... What about the risk of people stealing drones as they flit about or when they land to drop off a package? People trying to knock them out of the sky? Well, that would be stupid, really. While the drone would probably be most at-risk during takeoff and landing, it's more difficult to steal a flying robot than you might think."
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