Day of the drone

By M.G. | SAN FRANCISCO

EVER since drones took to the air, entrepreneurs have been working overtime to find ways in which to make money from a technology originally developed for military use. The notion of using squadrons of tiny flying machines to deliver packages to companies and people has been bandied about a lot. Now Amazon has given folk a glimpse into a future in which an internet of airborne things becomes a reality.

In an interview on December 1st on 60 Minutes, an American current affairs TV programme, Jeff Bezos, the boss of the e-commerce giant, revealed that the company is experimenting with a service called Amazon Prime Air, which involves using small drones to ship goods from an Amazon fulfilment centre directly to customers. The drones are designed to operate within a radius of ten miles from a centre, which in urban areas would mean they could deliver small packages to a large number of customers within a 30-minute timeframe.

Mr Bezos said on the programme it could be four or five years before such a technology is ready for prime time. He also noted that Amazon’s drone fleet would not be able to take to the skies until America’s Federal Aviation Authority had issued rules governing the operation of commercial drones, which it is not expected to do until 2015. And he stressed that the company was still tweaking the technology, which involves autonomous drones that navigate to addresses that have been sent to them via computer.

The news that Amazon is experimenting with drones will no doubt encourage other retailers to do so too. And it may inspire other bold ideas involving the delivery of goods by drones that have already been floated. All of these initiatives will have to grapple with tricky issues, such as how to ensure commercial drones land precisely where they are supposed to and how to prevent crafty hackers from diverting them and swiping their loads. But Mr Bezos seems confident solutions to such headaches can be found reasonably swiftly. If he is right, it will not be long before a “matternet” appears to complement the internet.