Drones To Start Making Drugstore Runs In The Mission

March 16, 2014 3:23 PM

QuiQui promises to deliver small drugstore items to the door of your Mission District (of course) apartment in 15 minutes or less for a mere $1 per delivery fee.
posted by latkes (84 comments total)

I'm surprised and disappointed to see QuiQui is not pronounced like Elmer Fudd saying "Quickly"
posted by aubilenon at 3:27 PM on March 16, 2014 [20 favorites]

( holds up butterfly nets) "oh sweet, Xanax! What'd you get?""ugh, heart regulator."
posted by The Whelk at 3:27 PM on March 16, 2014 [23 favorites]

So, this would be QuiQui's Delivery Service?
posted by Strange Interlude at 3:27 PM on March 16, 2014 [62 favorites]

Wow, good thing I clicked the link before making a "ha ha what is it gonna be by quadrotor drone or something?" crack.

I just hope their delivery routes don't go anywhere near groups of teenagers because "DRONE!" followed by a hail of rocks, pencils, soda bottles and so on doubtfully figures into QuiQui's business model.
posted by griphus at 3:34 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Reminds me of this, (newspaper delivery by drone) which turned out to be hoaxious.
posted by beagle at 3:38 PM on March 16, 2014

I just hope their delivery routes don't go anywhere near groups of teenagers because "DRONE!" followed by a hail of rocks, pencils, soda bottles and so on doubtfully figures into QuiQui's business model.

Don't worry; we don't have families here in San Francisco. On the other hand, anti-drone activists will soon emerge with much the same tactics, so they aren't safe for long.
posted by zachlipton at 3:38 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

So, this would be QuiQui's Delivery Service?

I have nothing to say about the proposal that hasn't already been said.. but Strange Interlude's pun is a work of sheer beauty.
posted by edgeways at 3:44 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

In other news, sale of nerf weaponry skyrockets.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:46 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Why Did You Pick The Mission? : blah blah "relatively flat landscape" blah blah "also, most of the founders reside here." OF COURSE YOU DO.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:51 PM on March 16, 2014 [10 favorites]

Just waiting for substance-abuse issue drones to start "losing" deliveries...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 3:51 PM on March 16, 2014

Have they noticed the trees, power lines, bus lines, cable lines, phone lines etc. in the Mission (and almost everywhere else in the city)? I can guarantee that if I stood outside my house and the drone dropped my order, it would either get stuck in the tree out front or land in the street.

Some of the teenagers in this neighborhood carry guns. They are not reluctant to shoot at each other, so I can't imagine they'd hold back aiming at one of these.
posted by rtha at 3:52 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

The first thing on their website FAQ is "how do you pronounce your name?" Somebody needs to speak to these fellas about branding.
posted by Thing at 3:54 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

This'll be cool until it takes a corner too quickly and lacerates a dude in the face
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:54 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Just waiting for substance-abuse issue drones to start "losing" deliveries...

They drug test all the drones before hiring them so hopefully that won't be a problem.
posted by griphus at 3:54 PM on March 16, 2014 [12 favorites]

This is kinda ridiculous. The Mission isn't that big. How many people in the neighborhood live so far from a drugstore that this would be more convenience than gimmick? I mean, isn't walkability one of the main reasons to live in an urban environment?
posted by evil otto at 3:56 PM on March 16, 2014 [7 favorites]

Just. Stop.
posted by bongo_x at 4:03 PM on March 16, 2014

From their FAQ:

What if something goes wrong?

Our drones have patent pending software to mitigate their damage in the event of catastrophic failure. If you accidentally drop your order in a tree, we can help you with that too.

If "I" accidentally drop my order in a tree? I am not the one piloting the drone. Their use of pronouns in this is certainly inventive.
posted by rtha at 4:04 PM on March 16, 2014 [33 favorites]

This is great for the well-heeled agoraphobe not on the go.
posted by The Whelk at 4:05 PM on March 16, 2014 [16 favorites]

This is kinda ridiculous. The Mission isn't that big. How many people in the neighborhood live so far from a drugstore that this would be more convenience than gimmick? I mean, isn't walkability one of the main reasons to live in an urban environment?

I think this business coincides nicely with pot decriminalization.
posted by latkes at 4:08 PM on March 16, 2014 [5 favorites]

There's a good chance you would be piloting the drone, to a degree. I'd imagine it's going to locate you using your phone and you're going to have to hit "drop" when you're ready to catch your package. It's not going to just throw it into the street and fly away.
posted by the jam at 4:10 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think this business coincides nicely with pot decriminalization.

Every pharmacy around here has a delivery service, and every deli that also carries drugstore stuff will happily run it up to your apartment. No flying drones needed!
posted by The Whelk at 4:11 PM on March 16, 2014

It's actually kind of like a real-life reverse version of the claw game. You have to use clunky controls to line up the drone, but it always seems to slip and drop your toothbrush into that tree. Only a dollar a play.
posted by heathkit at 4:12 PM on March 16, 2014 [8 favorites]

I think this business coincides nicely with pot decriminalization.

All dispensary deliveries performed by armored and heavily-armed weedcopter.
posted by griphus at 4:12 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Weedcopter come equipped with awesome lighting display and sound system.
posted by The Whelk at 4:14 PM on March 16, 2014 [9 favorites]

I was actually thinking of Snickers bar deliveries.
posted by latkes at 4:18 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

All joking aside, I wonder how long until the first one gets taken down. I don't expect gunfire, but I can see people throwing rocks (boomerangs?), potato launchers, something. I can absolutely see people trying to blind the camera with a hand held laser. Maybe crashing into them with other quadcopters (pirate drones!) Particularly once the speculation about whether or not QuiQui will try to "monetize" the feed from the cameras starts ramping up.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:19 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

I wonder how long until the first one gets taken down.

I’m setting up a stand selling brooms.
posted by bongo_x at 4:22 PM on March 16, 2014

I was actually thinking of Snickers bar deliveries.

Think bigger: the drone shows up to your house with your prescription, a big bag of Cheetos, a Snickers bar, a few beers, RoboCop On Blu-Ray and it doesn't even need to use your bathroom.
posted by griphus at 4:28 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

Kozmo again? I knew we were at the very end of yet another tech bubble, but I never thought it would be quite so blatantly cyclical.
posted by aspo at 4:34 PM on March 16, 2014 [11 favorites]

It's parties with people on stilts next.
posted by The Whelk at 4:37 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Why won't they deliver items from big drugstores?
posted by srboisvert at 4:38 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Slingshot and a whole lotta silly putty.
posted by benzenedream at 4:49 PM on March 16, 2014

Oh, I was just testing out my electromagnet, sorry about that.
posted by solarion at 4:50 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

Kozmo again? I knew we were at the very end of yet another tech bubble, but I never thought it would be quite so blatantly cyclical.

You just don’t get it. The stock market is up! iPhones! Wearable computers!
posted by bongo_x at 4:57 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

If self-driving cars aren't the flying cars of our generation, drones certainly are. Yes, it's technically feasible to have a bunch of autonomous drones flying around and there are indeed situations that would greatly benefit from having drones ferry small amounts of cargo around such as quickly getting medicine to remote places or retrieving blood samples, but luxury goods from the sky? Really? I think future generations would appreciate that we be a bit more serious in our technological endeavors.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:59 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

hey billy ray, we gonna party tonight! it says oxycodone on here!
posted by bruce at 5:07 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

How absurd... 20 feet... Heck, even I could hit that with a rock using my bad arm....
posted by HuronBob at 5:14 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

But, then again, I laughed at "Amazon"..
posted by HuronBob at 5:15 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Aw man, drugstores? I was rooting for tacocopter.com.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:16 PM on March 16, 2014 [5 favorites]

Postmates is Kozmo. This is sky Kozmo.
posted by wemayfreeze at 5:25 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Why does anyone believe this? There is no way they will do this.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 5:26 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

On the one hand, this is the DUMBEST IDEA IN THE HISTORY OF IDEAS, as everyone else has already kindly pointed out. On the other hand, I do believe that drones will play a key role in delivering Important Things to Hard-to-Reach Places, whether it's medicines to disaster zones or more axes to bunkers in the midst of a global zombie pandemic. And we ain't gonna be able to figure out how to do it easily and efficiently and reliably until some dumbasses decide to try to monetize the technology first, so I suppose this is as fine an attempt as any... BUT STILL I want to take every customer of theirs for a walk because C'MON.
posted by incessant at 5:41 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Unless potheads have drastically altered since the days when I knew any I can't foresee sending flying robots toward them ending well. They were paranoid enough without flying robots.
posted by winna at 5:42 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Because anything is believable when it comes from dewy-eyed San Francisco startups spouting gibberish about disrupting the something something. Honestly it's beyond parody at this point. I'm tempted to set up a fake website announcing an over-the-top startup but I'd probably get bought by VCs and actually have to do it.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 5:43 PM on March 16, 2014 [10 favorites]

If "I" accidentally drop my order in a tree? I am not the one piloting the drone. Their use of pronouns in this is certainly inventive.

Oh, please. Many's the time I've dropped things into trees on the way home from the drug store. It's just one of those things that happens. Mistakes were made, and we all need to take our share of blame. We call this "outsourcing error."
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:46 PM on March 16, 2014 [12 favorites]

I would absolutely pay a dollar for a drone to bring me some concealer and a packet or two of cookies. I don't even care if I have to get it out of a tree. There are worse reasons to spend an hour in a tree.
posted by NoraReed at 5:49 PM on March 16, 2014 [8 favorites]

I'm impressed. I can't think of anything more pointless or obviously representative of the self-absorbed culture of SF tech than this. Well done.
posted by Existential Dread at 5:58 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think it's funny that people think having a drone deliver you your toothpaste and kleenex is, like, the height of excess, while every day millions of people, to procure that selfsame toothpaste and kleenex, load themselves into 4,000-pound machines that cost tens of thousands of dollars a pop and drive to Walgreens on tracks permanently installed into the surface of the earth at the sort of vast expense that throws major world governments into debt for generations, and nobody bats an eye.
posted by enn at 6:00 PM on March 16, 2014 [57 favorites]

500 feet is the flight ceiling. Then drop down to 20 feet when read to deliver. If you were on the 50th floor of a skyscraper, and someone put a white drone on a white sidewalk below, could you see it? Probably not. Seems like a pretty unobtrusive and good idea. And so it starts, this company is on the leading edge and will garner real world experience ahead of any competition.
posted by stbalbach at 6:00 PM on March 16, 2014

This is really a thing?

THEN WHERE. IS. MY. TACOCOPTER?!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:23 PM on March 16, 2014 [6 favorites]

San Francisco's a crazy place to do this though. Who doesn't want to go for a short pleasant walk in SF? You don't even have to put on snowpants or pre-cool your car. Have your drones delivering formula in Fairbanks and Minneapolis when its -30 or Albuquerque and Redding when it's 111 degrees. That's your business model, right there.
posted by fshgrl at 6:33 PM on March 16, 2014 [9 favorites]

It doesn't get to 111 degrees in Albuquerque, fshgrl. You might be thinking of Phoenix.

Though it would be interesting if the drones tried to use the Albuquerque Box thermal patterns the balloons use to save on energy. Hot air balloon drones!
posted by NoraReed at 6:49 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

Even if this were real, the drones would probably only work in nice weather.
posted by ceribus peribus at 7:01 PM on March 16, 2014

Dude.

If I have to put on pants and go outside, you've completely defeated the point of delivery.
posted by Space Kitty at 7:42 PM on March 16, 2014 [10 favorites]

Like the Segway before it, they've discovered something the bicycle has been doing cheaper, more efficiently, and more safely for the last several thousand years.

Of course the Segway did end up having some minor uses for police departments and such, while this drone stuff is just more spoiled Silicon Valley nonsense targeted at people who can't take the 20 seconds to think through why it's completely impractical and useless.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:50 PM on March 16, 2014

The Pirker ruling is actually stayed pending an appeal, so it is not clear that the FAA will be unable to regulate Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and/or levy fines.

I have professional interest in UAS & the regulation thereof, and recently talked to an admin law attorney with a lot of experience in aviation. A relevant excerpt speaking to possible outcomes of the appeal filed by the FAA:

"Congress has given FAA broad powers over the use of the NAS which I don’t think fairly read restricts FAA regulation on the NAS use by drones. (49 USC 40103(b): “The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace and assign by regulation or order the use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient use of airspace. The Administrator may modify or revoke an assignment when required in the public interest.”) FMRA (FAA Modernization and Reauthorization Act of 2012) has specific provisions not only authorizing, but requiring, FAA to issue drone rules and further including a specific section (Sec. 336) that forecloses the FAA from promulgating rules regulating sUAS for hobby or recreational use. FMRA clearly authorizes and contemplates FAA sUAS regulation. So the short answer is I disagree with the author of the article that you cited me to, to the extent he says sUAS can’t be regulated.

The NAS is from the surface to 60,000+ and while governmental and civil actors have liability to private property owners for aircraft nuisance like invasion of private property rights, (old airport cases establish this), the FAA has power to issue regulations in the lower reaches of the NAS.

So again, I do not think it is correct to say FAA can’t regulate low flying sUAS. FAAs problem is it has not bothered to do so. Rather, FAA has a culture of regulating sUAS by Advisory Circular (AC) or by even less legally significant official pronouncements. Thus, FAA’s prohibition on commercial drone use of the NAS is by AC. The ALJ said model aircraft are simply unregulated (not that FAA can’t regulate them, but that it has not bothered to do so). The ALJ decided that to impose fines on people, FAA must have an enforceable, properly adopted rule, that makes complained of activity unlawful."
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 7:53 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

One of the owners of an agricultural drone company gave a presentation at XOXO last year about his company. I seem to recall him saying that US law prohibits drones from operating in US airspace (at least for a little bit longer) and so they were mostly doing trials until the law settled down.

(Interesting talk, where I learned that you can make an infrared camera out of pretty much anything, and sick plants look different in IR than regular ones do.)
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:53 PM on March 16, 2014

San Francisco's a crazy place to do this though. Who doesn't want to go for a short pleasant walk in SF?

Not all parts of San Francisco are nice. There are still parts of the Mission where it's unsafe to walk at night.
posted by thermopoetics at 8:00 PM on March 16, 2014

The first thing on their website FAQ is "how do you pronounce your name?" Somebody needs to speak to these fellas about branding.



"Les, what do you call one of those little yappy Mexican dogs?"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:06 PM on March 16, 2014

QuiQui? Seriously? Their tagline is a lesson is how to pronounce the name. Whoever did the branding should be fired. In addition their SEO sucks. I'm thinking this is a hoax.
posted by elwoodwiles at 8:21 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is a press release from a company with no funding (bootstrapped). The CEO quoted in the article is by day a freelance marketing professional who claims to specialize in "subversive marketing." This is a hoax.
posted by humanfont at 8:34 PM on March 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Of course the Segway did end up having some minor uses for police departments and such

In Seattle, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, the city is about five years into building a light rail station along Broadway. My most vivid memory of biking down that street was seeing a huge cloud of dust from a demolition gone bad, and a seriously overweight Seattle cop on a Segway rolling out and away from the growing cloud at a maximum of five miles an hour. That's perhaps the only time in my life I can recall ever seeing a Segway get put to good use.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:47 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

I have a wrist rocket and I know how to use it. As in, can divert a softball off trajectory at 100 feet. I don't want the stuff, but turning the street side windows into a midway game is irresistable.
posted by Dreidl at 8:48 PM on March 16, 2014

I think this business coincides nicely with pot decriminalization.

There's a million ways to get weed legally delivered in SF already.

This is kinda ridiculous. The Mission isn't that big. How many people in the neighborhood live so far from a drugstore that this would be more convenience than gimmick? I mean, isn't walkability one of the main reasons to live in an urban environment?

There are so many delivery apps/services available now in SF I can't even keep track of it anymore. It seems the only problem Silicon Valley is capable of solving is how to never actually leave your luxury gated Mission condo complex to go out into the big bad world outside your front door. I mean you know, riding the bus down to the valley eats up a lot of the day, who has time to go out?
posted by bradbane at 9:24 PM on March 16, 2014

I know this service is pressing all the hot button tropes (drones, gentrification, startups, The Mission, tech) so people are apt to dismiss / ridicule / condemn the idea, but does no one (at least on MF) see this as a potentially useful technology? For one, not everyone has the same mobility capabilities and might find something delivering their medication to their door useful. And, extending enn's comment a bit, these things could potentially take some traffic off the road, especially in lower-density areas. And as thermopoetics points out there are potential safety issues involved in just taking a nice stroll through the Mission. Or maybe one doesn't have time to go to the drugstore. And then there's me, I suppose, who believes a benevolent robot delivery service is just cool (yes, tacocopters would be nice).

Does nobody believe anymore in the power of technology to improve lives? Sure this particular service may have its problems, but does anyone really reject the idea of a robot delivery service per se?
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:50 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

I do believe that drones will play a key role in delivering Important Things to Hard-to-Reach Places

Dronediterod.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:55 PM on March 16, 2014

Why is it only $1? They should do it percentage/distance wise and obfuscate the price like uber/lyft/etc.

Anyone who can afford to live in the mission can afford to spend WAY more than $1 on being lazy.

If I have to put on pants and go outside, you've completely defeated the point of delivery.

Yea, also this. Why can't they hover the thing right at your window? That's what i've thought of ever since amazon brought up this idea.
posted by emptythought at 11:33 PM on March 16, 2014

For one, not everyone has the same mobility capabilities and might find something delivering their medication to their door useful.

You mean something other than a human, right? Because I thought home delivery was a solved problem, except for the lack of robots.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:59 PM on March 16, 2014 [3 favorites]

Noisy Pink Bubbles: "For one, not everyone has the same mobility capabilities and might find something delivering their medication to their door useful."

All the independent pharmacies here offer free delivery. It's only twice a day instead of within 15 minutes though as it's done by a human on a route. And we're not dense at all; I'd bet a dense area could get that time down to an hour or two.
posted by Mitheral at 6:04 AM on March 17, 2014

Having just had norovirus and literally spent a few minutes laying in bed whether it was worth it to get up, get a drink and take some aspirin or just lay there and die of renal failure or fever, this seems absolutely brilliant, but I can understand how it's a "I guess you had to be there" thing.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 8:10 AM on March 17, 2014

You mean something other than a human, right? Because I thought home delivery was a solved problem, except for the lack of robots.


Right. Isn't this whole thing about people being too embarrassed to have a real live human bring condoms and/or lubes to their door?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:48 AM on March 17, 2014

...most life affirming thing he sees all week
posted by The Whelk at 9:05 AM on March 17, 2014

I would be stoked if drone delivery became a thing, because I live in a rural area and the nearest store is about 17 miles away. It would save me so much time and gas money if drones could fetch my things, I would gladly pay extra for the service.

However, like I said, I live in a rural area. I mean, people shoot road signs around here. Poaching is considered a sport.

Delivery drones are basically a moving target that drops loot.

Sadly, I don't think drone delivery will be a viable prospect for the rural areas where it would be most useful.
posted by ErikaB at 12:50 PM on March 17, 2014 [3 favorites]

Does nobody believe anymore in the power of technology to improve lives?

I think given the situation we are in currently, it is foolish to deny technology has improved the lives of plenty of people, significantly. It has also caused quite a significant lot of harm and one of the problems we do have is simply jumping at any new thing without any real amount of time between application to implementation.

So, off the top of my head:

what happens when they break
what happens when they run into people
what happens when they run into a moving vehicle
how do we control drone density
what level of drone density is appropriate
who operates the drones
do they have training
are they liable for any damage the drone does
how do you ensure you are delivering to the correct person
is delivery of a package considered 'mail' and what laws protect it
what products are they allowed to carry
who is responsible when theft of potentially dangerous products from a drone occurs
what is the liability
are law enforcement responsible for shoplifting from drones in general
are law enforcement responsible for ensuring there is no invasion of privacy going on
how do people identify delivery drones from invasion-of-privacy drones
are drones limited to street right of ways or can they fly over private property
is someone liable if they destroy or capture a drone over their property
why or why not and how far up

I am sure there are many more items to address before I'd want drones zipping around for minimal benefit.
posted by edgeways at 1:53 PM on March 17, 2014 [4 favorites]

Oh man, you better start working on that list, 'cause the drones are gonna be here soon.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 7:35 PM on March 17, 2014

yeah.... in five years I'll have my house built and enough acreage in the middle of just far enough awayistan that no one will think twice about some random shotgun blast. what to do with all the spare metal and plastic I dunno though.
posted by edgeways at 9:04 PM on March 17, 2014

How Delivery Drones Could Save Lives in Africa
posted by homunculus at 9:35 PM on March 17, 2014

I'm all for new ideas, but if a village in the third world doesn't have reliable enough road transport that you need a mini-helicopter to deliver drugs, I think spending money on less sexy traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges would give you more bang for your buck.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:03 AM on March 18, 2014

I think spending money on less sexy traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges would give you more bang for your buck.

Not to mention that it would take just one idiot to decide that those drones would be a perfect place to mount surveillance cameras to put the whole project (and any analogous ones) under suspicion. Heck, it would just require the rumor that someone decided to do that....
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:40 AM on March 18, 2014

Dr Dracator: "I think spending money on less sexy traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges would give you more bang for your buck."

The capital cost is much much higher though. Compare to the way a lot of places skipped over landlines and went right to people having cell phones.
posted by Mitheral at 8:53 AM on March 18, 2014

But cell phones provide practically the same or better utility than landlines: drug delivery drones are not a complete replacement for proper transport infrastructure. Not that it would be bad to have them, but even if you do you still have to finance the more mundane stuff other places take for granted.
posted by Dr Dracator at 9:19 AM on March 18, 2014

Providing roads benefits everyone that road connects, it allows for increased freedom of movement to and away from areas of concern. Trying to solve the same problems via drones alone seems pretty short sighted. Plus, as kind of alluded to above, there is already fears in some areas of medical services delivered by outsiders because of programs such as vaccinations in remote areas having been at least partially staffed by intelligence gathering agencies. A fear that is not unwarranted . So why would people in remote areas assumed that a drone is completely benevolent and not either a) spying or b) potentially lethal?

And speaking of all of that, frankly, how long will it take until non-state military actors start using this technology as well?
posted by edgeways at 10:23 AM on March 18, 2014

It should be noted that roads aren't a unmitigated good. They directly impact the environment; divide habitats and more importantly enable resource exploitation. They also are vectors for disease.

edgeways: "how long will it take until non-state military actors start using this technology as well?"

That ship has sailed irregardless of the success of this sort of delivery service. The components are widely available and cheap.
posted by Mitheral at 11:49 AM on March 18, 2014

well yeah.. humans moving are vectors for diseases. The other option is humans not moving, which unless we're 1st world elitists no one would think is a good idea for part of the world but not others.

I agree roads aren't an unmitigated good, I don't think many would argue otherwise, hell interstates are a regular charnel house. On balance, for humans roads provide an awful lot of good, and not investing in them because 'well we could remotely fly emergency supplies in now' is wrong on multiple levels. Like most things it is the prevalence that dictates the level of problem. Too many/too big is defiantly double plus ungood, none is not good either. And TBH, I agree, drones could be used for very legitimate worthwhile purposes. However, I think a major fault we have is the propensity to adopt technology as if it is a cure then also adopting a whole host of knock-on ill effects rather than trying to work with known technology while mitigating the effects we are already aware of. ¯\(°_o)/¯
posted by edgeways at 1:25 PM on March 18, 2014