Wired’s 2017 Predictions: Drones! Drones! Drones!


Drones will go into wide commercial use in 2017. Package deliveries are a couple of years away, but expect a lot more time media coverage. There are many ways that drones will change the world in the future. They will be able to beam the Internet everywhere, accelerate warfare, transform televised sports and hustle your impulse buys to your doorstep.
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Drones are already bringing online packages to shoppers in China, where winding mountainous roads make deliveries time consuming and carrying blood to hospitals in rural Rwanda, where poor road conditions make it hard to travel. However, in the US, the airspace is already jam-packed. There are 30,000 flights each day, and so therefore there are strict rules regarding drones. You may not fly a drone outside of the operator’s sight, at night or over people. However, these rules are preliminary.

The FAA is willing to let you experiment with different options if you can prove that what you were doing is not dangerous. It has already granted hundreds of waivers. CNN gets to fly over crowds, HBO can film at night, and Google’s Project Wing gets to fly 20 drones at once. Amazon is working on its new idea called Prime Air, where you can have a package that is 5 pounds or less delivered to you via a drone in 30 minutes or less. W

hile you should not expect your Amazon package to be dropped onto your doorstep just yet, changes in the rules are definitely being considered. Federal regulations are being moved forward in a cautious way.

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7 years ago
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