@targz I think the idea is super awesome for rural areas. And I feel people should not always shout "not scalable". Of course it should be worth the investment, but the service is very powerfull in these areas. Especially if we talk about meds and i.e. snake bites?

@targz All small issues that will inevitably get better over time. You could say the same about helicopters in the 1890s.

@targz Yes, there has been a lot of bad press here due to the noise of the drones. Most of the trial areas seem to have been very low density areas. There have also only been a handful of companies using it. I can't see it taking off in urban areas unless the noise is significantly reduced. As @michielhaverlag points out, if they can increase the flight time, there are plenty of rural households that will benefit. Some people live hundreds of kilometres (up to 4-8 hours drive) from the nearest town, grocery store, pharmacist, doctor, dentist etc. Being able to order essential items as well as emergency medical supplies such as anti-venom. Will hugely increase their quality of life! If you're interested, Google 'Royal Flying Doctor Service'.

@targz our robot-sky-infested future is upon us, don't worry. I think eventually it will reach levels where a population gets upset enough to regulate them further—imagine "drone-free" cities or neighborhoods. Heck, it already happens on a smaller scale and the drones are usually just hobbyists. As much as I have a love/hate relationship with drones and the noise they create, there will be plenty of flying robots buzzing about in the years to come with UAM (Urban Air Mobility) initiatives from Airbus/Uber/Bell and many others. A UTM system (Unmanned Traffic Management) will enable operations like these to occur—without incident—in dense urban areas. As for not being feasible for long distance, I mean, isn't that the point? Delivery drones are typically thought of as last-mile logistics solutions.

@iansmith I'm sure that you are more on the page than me about drones, I'm not against having last miles delivery done by drones, I'm just saying that it feel not realistic to me in urban area. The noise is a concerne to me but not as important than security, those things could create damage and hurt people. I just thinking at, malfunction that could cause crash, batteries or motors failure, weather conditions specially wind, power line, malicious act, people use them as shooting target, and so on. Maybe we will leave a time were drone will fly all over the city but then I would be curious to see how much it will cost to operator in term of maintenance, assurance, repair.

@aaronoleary Watch the video in this article https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019...