Amazon's Prime Air drones: The Internet is already mocking it

FP StaffDec 03, 2013 17:58:43 IST

Amazon announced that it would be launching Prime Air, a new form of delivery via drones. That's right, in case you thought drones were only about attacking and bombing people, you're wrong. Amazon wants to deliver goods to your home using a drone. The actual implementation of this is going to take some time. According to Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos, it will take five years to get all the clearances required and Amazon will also have to figure out a way to ensure people don't steal parcels and the drones themselves.

Called 'octocopters', the drones are unmanned vehicles that have a 16-kilometer flight radius and can carry objects up to 2.3 kg. According to Bezos, that covers "86% of the items that we deliver". The drones run on electric redundant motors, which means they can stay in the air even if one motor fails. The delivery coordinates will be sent via GPS.

Amazon's Prime Air Drone is seen in this promotional picture.

While Amazon and Bezos are talking about this futuristic form of delivery, the Internet is already mocking Amazon's idea of delivery via drones. From tweets with fake Amazon delivery notes explaining why the delivery can't take place (drone reached sentience and defected to join the machines in the upcoming revolution against mankind, for example) to people pulling put 'Net launchers' to capture the drone, Amazon's Prime Air is the butt of some serious Internet jokes.

Someone has also made a game called Drone Hunt which, is basically a modified version of Duck Hunt. Except you're hunting for Amazon's delivery drones. You can play that here.

Here are the tweets:

I missed an Amazon drone delivery. pic.twitter.com/neJxYANj6p

- B to A to the R R Y (@QuantumPirate) December 2, 2013

"Where'd you get that stolen TV from son?" "I swear officer, it just fell off the back of a drone!"

- Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) December 2, 2013

I liked the Amazon Prime Air Drone better when it was called Santa Claus.

- Gary He (@garyhe) December 2, 2013

Anyone see 60 minutes piece on Amazon drones. People, we all watched "Terminator". This is how it starts. #freakedmeout.

- Colin Cowherd (@ESPN_Colin) December 2, 2013

Amazon drones? meet my Net launcher 😛 pic.twitter.com/PmoAC8wSJj

- Dave Bagnall (@DaveChaos) December 2, 2013

Perhaps the ultimate mockery comes in the form of a video titled "O.W.L.S" by Waterstones, one of the UK's largest booksellers. O.W.L.S is all about using owls as form of delivery for book packages.

The video description says, "O.W.L.S. consists of a fleet of specially trained owls that, either working individually or as an adorable team, will be able to deliver your package within thirty minutes of you placing your order."

However Press Manager Jon Owls, while introducing the project, also says "putting O.W.L.S. into commercial use will take a number of years as it takes ages to train owls to do anything and we only just thought of it this morning." It's funny, though if you are a Harry Potter fan, you might be tempted to think, what if it really was possible.

Watch video below: