I spend a lot of time complaining about the use of military drones. Like any technology, unmanned aerial vehicles can be used for good or evil. The United States government uses them to bomb brown children in sandy regions, which is downright evil. But a company in Australia is planning to use drones for something amazing:
Sick of relying on slow trucks and traditional delivery systems to get his company Zookal’s textbooks to people, Ahmed Haider decided on a fresh approach. Now, his Sydney, Australia-based company will deliver the textbooks via drones.
Today, Zookal, a textbook rental startup, is announcing that by using unmanned aerial vehicles to ferry textbooks to renters, it will cut delivery times from two to three days down to a matter of minutes, while shaving shipping costs down to a tenth of their normal prices.
Being able to make local deliveries with antonymous drones could decrease the time it takes to get packages, allow packages to be delivered on the customer’s schedule, and reduce the costs associated with delivering packages. As it currently stands you have to wait for the delivery truck to get to your home. If you have to sign for a package you have to be at your home when the delivery truck arrives, which is probably the biggest hassle when getting expensive items delivered. The delivery truck also consumes gas, a commodity that seems destined to continue rising in price. Battery powered drones could reduce energy costs if the battery was recharged by something akin to solar panels.
I hope this concept works out. Having packages delivered from local hubs straight to my door on my schedule would certainly improve my life (yes, I live in a first world country so my life is notable improved by seemingly trivial things).