Florida man is back with a vengeance, and this time, he’s going after Walmart delivery drones.
Yes, really. Walmart was demonstrating its delivery drone technology in Clermont, Florida — about 25 miles outside of Orlando — and a man allegedly shot the drone out of the sky when it flew near his house. Apparently, he thought it was spying on him.
Is delivery drone target practice a legitimate concern for companies like Walmart, Amazon and Google, which have experimented with these futuristic deliveries? On one hand, this Florida man drone shooting wasn’t an isolated incident. On the other hand, there are far more serious barriers to the adoption of delivery drones. Namely, the cost.
In 2022, Amazon was estimated to be spending $484 dollars on each drone delivery, and while that price has been estimated to drop to around $63 dollars, that’s still almost 20 times more expensive than ground delivery. And if someone shoots down your drone while you’re trying to reach your customer, then that’s another $2,500 or so down the drain.
So, maybe this isn’t in the cards for a country with more guns than people. But also, do we really need drone delivery?
