eBay CEO Calls Amazon Drones a 'Longterm Fantasy'

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

eBay is going to stick with current delivery methods for eBay Now.

Early last week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his company plans to use drones to deliver customers' packages as soon as the FAA gives the green light. While Bezos admitted that the FAA represented the biggest challenge, Bezos vowed that Amazon Prime Air "will work and it will happen." However, if you ask eBay CEO John Donahue, what we can do today is far more important than what might be possible down the line.

"We're not really focusing on long-term fantasies, we're focusing on things that will change consumers' experience today," The Verge quotes Donahue as saying during an appearance on Bloomberg TV.

One could argue that Jeff Bezos' goal to get Amazon Prime Air up and running by 2015 isn't all that far off, but eBay already has human drones working to deliver packages within an hour of ordering via eBay Now. 

Amazon's not the only one eying up drones for deliveries, though. UPS and DHL are also exploring the possibility of delivery packages via unmanned drones.

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Jane McEntegart
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • clonazepam
    Well... he sure can't say they are a great idea, can he?
    Reply
  • qlum
    Thing is however great drones could be with a battery life of 15 minutes on average for the small commercial drone and with collision detection and pathfinding being how it is now we are still way off efficient drone transport.
    Reply
  • vaughn2k
    Time to prep my snare/s and try to catch one of those.... :D :D
    Reply
  • goodguy713
    I like it personally .. I would imagine that he would be willing to spend the funds required we are talking about a guy who funded a 10000 year clock and found a space artifacts.. where no one else could find them. He's no pretender ..
    Reply
  • southernshark
    The drone deliveries are a fantasy or a PR stunt. Think about it. Amazon would need tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of drones flying around all the time. Not only would it be hard to pull off, but the drones would quickly be seen as a public nuisance. Additionally, the greenhouse gas costs of these drones would be very high. Even if they are electric, the energy still has to come from somewhere.

    I imagine that one day we may have driverless delivery vans, but I can't see flying drones.
    Reply
  • baby281
    Better than charging us 10 percent seller fees. EBay never again.
    Reply
  • UA67
    Why does everyone hate the idea of drone delivery? It is a great idea that will only improve amazon's great delivery service.
    "The drone deliveries are a fantasy or a PR stunt. Think about it. Amazon would need tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of drones flying around all the time. Not only would it be hard to pull off, but the drones would quickly be seen as a public nuisance. Additionally, the greenhouse gas costs of these drones would be very high. Even if they are electric, the energy still has to come from somewhere.

    I imagine that one day we may have driverless delivery vans, but I can't see flying drones."
    First off, this delivery option will be available to very few when it arrives considering the drones' range of about ten miles and the fact that they will take off from amazon fulfillment centers which are not even close to being in every city. They will not be a nuisance because they fly at 300 feet until they reach their destination. That's like saying that airplanes are a public nuisance. Also keep in mind, these "greenhouse gasses" that they are emitting are replacing actual green house gasses produced by big delivery trucks.
    Reply
  • stingstang
    I can see this working. Hell, the U.S. government can deliver "packages" directly where the person is at the speed of sound; even wait around for them to show up for up to 32 hours.
    Reply
  • ta152h
    As soon as one of these monsters comes crashing in on a human, and all things do fail, this will end.

    And since the USPS has to come to your house anyway, it's not like it's preventing driving accidents by eliminating them.

    This is just a stupid idea to get attention. It's succeeded.

    But, if it does succeed, eBay stands to make a lot of money off of it - I'll be selling portable FlaK to shoot these things down.
    Reply
  • beoza
    These drones will make for some good target practice for duck season. I can see paranoid people shooting these things down cause they think they're government drones.
    Reply