Not so dull: Amazon's PrimeAIR UAVs [60 Minutes Video]

On Sixty Minutes (aired December 1, 2013), Jeff Bezos introduced Charlie Rose to Amazon PrimeAIR. Amazon's concept -- several years off, in part due to FAA regulation -- is to utilize low cost UAVs to deliver parcels. Morever, the idea is to move toward same-day delivery.

Why? Amazon's long term of profit is based on customer retention. Amazon wants to deliver faster, yes, but also move into new markets where delivery speed is important. As illustrated with Amazon's grocery delivery business, only recently expanded into Los Angeles, Amazon studies a problem until it thoroughly understands how to execute without losing money.

Why, again? As Bezos explained to Rose, "Companies have short lifespans. Amazon will be disrupted sooner or later. . . . I would love for it to be after I am dead."

Conclusion What Amazon can't host or stream, it may employ intelligent machines and the Internet of Things (IoT) to achieve market dominance. As with AWS, Amazon will exert a cascading effect on the rest of global commerce. UAV's, hopefully not dirty or dangerous in this case, will have an increasingly important role in future transportation systems. It will take Big Data capacity, a few firms are better positioned to use it than Amazon.

Still Image from the 60 Minutes Visit to Amazon's UAV Lab

New Dictionary Entry: "Drone Shoot" (as in "Turkey Shoot")

Drones Displayed at Navy facility in Maryland (2005) Credit: Navy.mil

In a signoff entry in today's PRI Marketplace, the show cited a report in the Denver Post about the town of Deer Trail selling permits to shoot down drones. The town clerk has already collected more than $19,000 in permits, even though the ordinance has not yet been passed.

Whether the expression "Drone Shoot" applies is debatable, but many low cost drones being promoted for civilian use fly relatively low and at relatively slow speeds.

The proposed town regulation would allow residents to shoot down drones that stray within 1,000 feet above private property -- and pay a $100 bounty. DullDirtyDangerous is unaware of military facilities in the vicinity of Deer Trail that would sponsor such UAV flights. But citizens in the vicinity of Patuxtent River, near which a Northrop Grumman BAMS-D UAV crashed carrying nearly 6 tons of fuel in June 2012, may wish to consult local regulations.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been directed by Congress to integrate UAS devices into civilian aviation by September 2015.