Drones, more commonly known for their use by the military and hobbyists, may be coming to a doorstep near you.
Or maybe not.
Amazon.com (AMZN), to great fanfare earlier this week, said it plans to eventually use unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver packages in some cities near the company’s warehouses. Analysts say plenty of big challenges await the world’s largest online retailer.
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Skeptics of the drone plan characterized Sunday’s announcement as an attempt to drum up hype ahead of Cyber Monday.
Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos said in Sunday's "60 Minutes" piece the FAA is under congressional directive to come up with regulations for commercial use of drones in the next two years. Turns out that's not quite accurate. Congress told the FAA to have regulatory guidelines ready for publication by 2015, but having regulatory guidelines isn't the same thing as having regulations.
I think the analysts who say Amazon was using CBS to build hype for Cyber Monday are probably correct. Basically, "60 Minutes" gave Amazon a free 18-minute commercial. Howard Kurtz summed this PR stunt up nicely:
If you stop and think about it, what Jeff Bezos pulled off on “60 Minutes” was nothing short of remarkable.
Never mind that there are serious government hurdles—not to mention technological challenges—to the Amazon founder’s idea of using drones to deliver packages. Or that Bezos himself says this won’t happen for years. Or that the drone’s range is only 10 miles.
With a single interview about something that doesn’t exist, Bezos hijacked the 24/7 news cycle. Everyone is talking, writing, blogging, tweeting and kvetching about drones.
And every time one of those talks, writings, blogs, tweets and kvetches takes place, the name of Amazon gets mentioned again. Nice job, Bezos. They should give you a bonus.
You have to ask, could something this bogus have been hyped in the days of Mike Wallace and Morley Safer?
