Depending on your perspective, it's either the final nail in the I-guess-we-live-in-a-dystopian-novel-now coffin, or the glorious dawn of the I-can-finally-get-my-Magic-Gel-Keyboard-Cleaner-in-under-two-hours era.
Amazon has just announced that it's testing out drone delivery service in the UK, after getting permission to do so from none other than the British government.
Amazon's Prime Air drone delivery system was originally announced in 2013, but it now looks set to take to the skies. The time limit for all drone deliveries will be set at 30 minutes, and the most a parcel can weigh is 55 pounds.
The drones are about to be tested for three key areas: operations outside line-of-sight in rural areas, sensor testing for hazard avoidance (imagine if your order of Coke crashed into another parcel of Mentos?) and one-person operation of multiple drones.
"Using small drones for the delivery of parcels will improve customer experience, create new jobs in a rapidly growing industry, and pioneer new sustainable delivery methods to meet future demand," said Paul Misener from Amazon. Jobs for drones, Paul. You're directly contributing to the robot uprising.
Speedy deliveries sound great, sure, but there are plenty of issues around hacking and potential collisions that Amazon will have to reassure us about first. Plus, how many of these things will end up floating around? We kind of like the sky as it is. You know, mostly empty of robot life.
We'll have our heads craned permanently upwards to see how this all turns out, but now that Amazon has been granted permission to test drones UK, you can expect other companies to follow suit.
