Between the character's dialect, religious references, and racism, I can understand why people would maybe think the character is supposed to be some kind of Southern bumpkin stereotype. Don't think it's worthy of getting offended or angry about, though.
I live in Western Canada, and almost every day I encounter people who speak like that. That manner of speech is not solely a stereotype of Americans from the southern U.S.
In all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidently sticks their hand in one of the rotors, let alone pets and kids.
+1
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I do think people overreact to the concept of drones. Just as many technologies get overreacted to. Remember the cell phone brain cancer thing? That died like a motherfuck the moment smart phones arrived on the scene and was replaced with "Apple is tracking me via GPS!"
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
the robot revolution is coming sooner or later, someone had to get the ball rolling.
So, aside from the obvious shortcut of "hire a kid with a van for millions cheaper than these ridiculous drones" (heck, you could BUY the kid for cheaper than this drone), my question is, if you live 10 miles from a fulfillment center (which is what they are saying the range will be), need something in 30 minutes, and have the cash to spend on premium shipping like this, couldn't you just, say, drive yourself to go get it?
I think the funniest part of the commercial Amazon aired for this service that will probably not be available for months, if at all, is the guy waiting patiently inside as the OCTOCOPTER lands in his backyard. Who would wait for it to leave? Heck, I'd order something just to snag me a drone. If it tries to fly away from me, I get a free ride across town (in my cartoon-physics imagination, anyway). But in reality, how the heck would you clear a landing zone for this thing? What does the drone operator do (if there is a person at the other end, who may as well be driving a van in that case) if there's a cat or kid that won't move out of the way?
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
So, aside from the obvious shortcut of "hire a kid with a van for millions cheaper than these ridiculous drones" (heck, you could BUY the kid for cheaper than this drone), my question is, if you live 10 miles from a fulfillment center (which is what they are saying the range will be), need something in 30 minutes, and have the cash to spend on premium shipping like this, couldn't you just, say, drive yourself to go get it?
There's a value in "sit your ass at home, have thing brought to you." See: Delivery services, the mail, garbage being picked up, pizza delivery, etc.
the robot revolution is coming sooner or later, someone had to get the ball rolling.
It is, but drones and Amazon are not how it is arriving. Boston Dynamics is where people should be looking.
snip
The way that thing hops around is both adorable and horrifying at the same time.
My favorite part is at 1:18 where it turns around by jamming its face into the ground and flipping around. Reminds me of that goofy Batpod move from TDK.
Monkey Ball WarriorA collection of mediocre hatsSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
I remember when I first moved up here being taken aback by the subtle difference between southern rural accents and northwestern rural accents. It's almost the same, but there's just a hint of Canadian thrown in for flavor. Like how you would expect a lumberjack to speak. It's actually kind of fascinating from a phonological perspective.
"I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
Whenever someone gets offended by a comic, I always ponder how in 15 years and thousands of strips of Penny-Arcade, this was the one that crossed the line.
Everyone thinks that they have somehow come up with a critical problem that Amazon haven't thought of.
Nah. I don't doubt they've thought of all these problems, and yet they're trying to push forward with this anyway, which makes me respect them more. (Assuming the whole thing isn't just a stunt where they've secretly decided it's too impractical to ever come to fruition but they're using it for the publicity, which is entirely possible.)
I just think it's interesting to think about the practicalities of how it would work and the potential problems...or at least more interesting than the "OMG AMAZON DRONES WTF AWESOME(?) LOL" initial reaction a few days ago, and way more interesting than people arguing about who exactly should/shouldn't be offended by perceived slights to whatever stereotyped regional group in the comic.
I do think people overreact to the concept of drones. Just as many technologies get overreacted to. Remember the cell phone brain cancer thing? That died like a motherfuck the moment smart phones arrived on the scene and was replaced with "Apple is tracking me via GPS!"
Judging by the amount of "protect me from EM radiation" products available on Amazon, I think it only died in the media.
I do think people overreact to the concept of drones. Just as many technologies get overreacted to. Remember the cell phone brain cancer thing? That died like a motherfuck the moment smart phones arrived on the scene and was replaced with "Apple is tracking me via GPS!"
Judging by the amount of "protect me from EM radiation" products available on Amazon, I think it only died in the media.
I do think people overreact to the concept of drones. Just as many technologies get overreacted to. Remember the cell phone brain cancer thing? That died like a motherfuck the moment smart phones arrived on the scene and was replaced with "Apple is tracking me via GPS!"
My friends roommate still won't let her get a wireless router because of "omg wayves in my brains!"
Or maybe they just wanted a free 30 minute commercial on 60 Minutes the day before Cyber Monday and this entire drone thing is mularky.
I think you've got it here. Tube makes a fair point, but I honestly doubt this is something they are pursuing in the immediate future, at least to the extent they want us to think. As Tycho says in the newspost though, everything does have to start somewhere.
Also RE: the newspost--I feel like there are cyclical stages of realization regarding privacy. You start out naiive--posting personal messages on people's walls facebook and not realizing everyone can see it. As one learns more about the internet, they become more careful, and paranoid--refusing to even use facebook or give potential employers your SS# lest the world know your dirty secrets. But once you begin to understand the extent of how public everything has become, you just stop caring--your SS# is not a secret to anyone, and anyone who wants to find out anything about you can do so with impunity. Yes, people are spying on you. No, they do not care. Your secrets are interesting to no one.
So, aside from the obvious shortcut of "hire a kid with a van for millions cheaper than these ridiculous drones" (heck, you could BUY the kid for cheaper than this drone), my question is, if you live 10 miles from a fulfillment center (which is what they are saying the range will be), need something in 30 minutes, and have the cash to spend on premium shipping like this, couldn't you just, say, drive yourself to go get it?
1. A van has to follow roads and street signs to get somewhere. Outside of banned areas drones can generally fly in a straight line or at worst a parabola.
2. Nevermind that they're also tinkering with automated ones as well.
3. People could drive themselves to get a pizza too. But driving sucks.
I have my doubts about retail delivery just because the cost seems nowhere near worth it for the range, but this kind of thing has a lot of amazing applications
also it is typically native americans who are stereotyped for having a low tolerance for alcohol. Irish are stereotyped as being high functioning drunks
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
I wonder what kind of weather conditions these drones can handle? If any moderate storm grounds them, that seems like a big advantage for traditional, ground-bound delivery methods. Hell as shitty as the USPS is a lot of the time, "Neither rain nor snow..."
If it's only for inside ten miles of the warehouses then it probably wouldn't be much of an issue overall if it's just meant as a perk and doesn't cost extra.
If the weather's nice then I get my jacket in half an hour. If not I get it in a day. Either way as someone who will soon live inside that radius it still makes at least me an even more solid customer.
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PedroAsaniBrotherhood of the Squirrel[Prime]Registered Userregular
I wonder what kind of weather conditions these drones can handle? If any moderate storm grounds them, that seems like a big advantage for traditional, ground-bound delivery methods. Hell as shitty as the USPS is a lot of the time, "Neither rain nor snow..."
Just looking at the obvious stuff first:
Air traffic control. Provided they stay below 1,200 feet and out of the controlled zones around airports/other non Class-G airspace, their isn't any issue with ATC requirements. If the drones are automated you could even argue they are flying under IFR rules and so don't need the same kinds of good weather for VFR.
Privacy. People are worried about the drones having cameras on them, so eliminate the need for them. If the drone navigates through a combination of GPS and sonar (for collision detection) it doesn't need a traditional operator/camera interface.
Getting shot down. 1,200 feet would require a pretty good shot on a moving target with largely unpredictable wind conditions (no wind markers to assist aim). I'd be more worried about urbanites with large nets they can throw off balconies.
Stealing the drones. They are only really vulnerable when they land. If one goes missing there will be a record of the delivery address. So unless you spot a neighbours incoming package and can ninja over to grab the drone whilst they aren't looking (30 minute delivery means someone is waiting for it to arrive) I don't think it will be more than a nuisance in the beginning. Given the expected cost of the drone theft of one would rapidly climb into Felony Grand Theft territory.
Now a few lesser touched upon areas:
Weather. Waterproofing might take care of light rain, but I think anything beyond a mild breeze would have the potential to overturn the drone and result in a crash.
Crashes. Expensive, but you can insure the drone. The problem comes from property damage and injury to people.
Power. 30 minute delivery, if you allow for 5 minutes to load and configure the drone, would mean a potential 50 minute round trip. Current personal drone batteries last for typically 10 minutes. Charge time would mean that you swap the batteries out after every delivery, so some poor tech would do nothing but that all day every day.
also it is typically native americans who are stereotyped for having a low tolerance for alcohol. Irish are stereotyped as being high functioning drunks
I was thinking Asian people as having the low alcohol tolerance stereotype, actually. Which I think is mostly just people confusing that Asian people are far more likely to flush (turn red) when drinking due to genetics than actually having a high or low alcohol tolerance.
Anyway, this comic was hilarious, especially the baby snatching drones.
Stereotyping regions and races is fun! Can we look forward to watermelon eating, low alcohol tolerance, laziness and bad driving in future comics?
Holy shit...
You should look into becoming a professional boxer. This is the longest reach I've ever seen!
Thanks, I now see the error in my post. Change the skintones of the characters and the reference to the baby's color (why was that there, anyway?), and it would still just be a good harmless laugh. Sorry I suggested (never mentioning the south) there was a problem. I'll try to become less sensitive and more sophisticated, like the folks on this forum who took their time to tell me how it all works. BTW, Zyrxil? Many aboriginal people have a genetic intolerance for alcohol, a situation that was weaponized during the Western Expansion period. Funny stuff, right? Sorry to have interrupted this important discussion, no funnier way to debate the merits of package drones than inventing xenophobic cretins and focusing on the color of their children!
Stereotyping regions and races is fun! Can we look forward to watermelon eating, low alcohol tolerance, laziness and bad driving in future comics?
Holy shit...
You should look into becoming a professional boxer. This is the longest reach I've ever seen!
Thanks, I now see the error in my post. Change the skintones of the characters and the reference to the baby's color (why was that there, anyway?), and it would still just be a good harmless laugh. Sorry I suggested (never mentioning the south) there was a problem. I'll try to become less sensitive and more sophisticated, like the folks on this forum who took their time to tell me how it all works. BTW, Zyrxil? Many aboriginal people have a genetic intolerance for alcohol, a situation that was weaponized during the Western Expansion period. Funny stuff, right? Sorry to have interrupted this important discussion, no funnier way to debate the merits of package drones than inventing xenophobic cretins and focusing on the color of their children!
I think drone deliveries are a lot more feasible than a lot of people here think. First, they are talking about a drone that can lift packages up to five pounds, meaning that it's probably primarily going to be used for lighter packages. What were talking about here is basically an RC Copter/Jet that delivers lightweight packages. I haven't seen what these drones are supposed to cost, but I honestly think the cost of the drone itself will not be a big problem.
I think that there are two genuine problems with Drones, the surveillance issue, which yeah... I feel like were going to have to live with the fact that we don't have lots of privacy until maybe it backfires to the point where we as a society have decided that's important. I think we should be worried about Amazon taking pictures of everything we do and selling it to anyone who will pay, including stalkers. Sure, they probably don't plan that as part of their business model, but come on... If The corporation itself didn't do it I'm sure some of it's employees overseeing the program would just for the extra cash.
The other problem I'd be worried about is if a drone malfunctioned and crashed in a way that caused a non-trivial accident. I think that's a legitimate concern. However, I think people are overplaying this concern as well. Companies lose millions of dollars all the time because one person in one location does something really, really stupid. However, businesses can function and profit despite this because the vast majority of their business operations do not cause these kinds of accidents on an everyday basis.
I think Amazon drone delivery is a thing that is feasible, and that we might actually see.
In all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidently sticks their hand in one of the rotors, let alone pets and kids.
@Gaslight before vending machines: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who sticks their hand up one of the machines, let alone kids."
@Gaslight before cars: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who runs over their lawnmower, let alone pets and kids."
@Gaslight before lawnmowers: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidentally slices his foot off, let alone pets and kids."
In all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidently sticks their hand in one of the rotors, let alone pets and kids.
@Gaslight before vending machines: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who sticks their hand up one of the machines, let alone kids."
@Gaslight before cars: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who runs over their lawnmower, let alone pets and kids."
@Gaslight before lawnmowers: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidentally slices his foot off, let alone pets and kids."
Society was nowhere near as litigious when all of those things were first trying to gain acceptance as it is now, or as regulated for that matter.
To get this off the ground (no pun intended) Amazon is going to have to 1) convince government regulators their these things aren't going to explode on somebody's doorstep/crash into traffic/butcher somebody's yorkshire terrier, and 2) convince their own lawyers that they won't be ruined paying damages if one or two do happen to explode on somebody's doorstep/crash into traffic/butcher somebody's yorkshire terrier.
It will be interesting to see how they go about accomplishing that. Again, assuming the entire thing isn't just a publicity stunt they have no intention of actually following through on.
Stereotyping regions and races is fun! Can we look forward to watermelon eating, low alcohol tolerance, laziness and bad driving in future comics?
Holy shit...
You should look into becoming a professional boxer. This is the longest reach I've ever seen!
Thanks, I now see the error in my post. Change the skintones of the characters and the reference to the baby's color (why was that there, anyway?), and it would still just be a good harmless laugh. Sorry I suggested (never mentioning the south) there was a problem. I'll try to become less sensitive and more sophisticated, like the folks on this forum who took their time to tell me how it all works. BTW, Zyrxil? Many aboriginal people have a genetic intolerance for alcohol, a situation that was weaponized during the Western Expansion period. Funny stuff, right? Sorry to have interrupted this important discussion, no funnier way to debate the merits of package drones than inventing xenophobic cretins and focusing on the color of their children!
Posts
It is, but drones and Amazon are not how it is arriving. Boston Dynamics is where people should be looking.
I think the funniest part of the commercial Amazon aired for this service that will probably not be available for months, if at all, is the guy waiting patiently inside as the OCTOCOPTER lands in his backyard. Who would wait for it to leave? Heck, I'd order something just to snag me a drone. If it tries to fly away from me, I get a free ride across town (in my cartoon-physics imagination, anyway). But in reality, how the heck would you clear a landing zone for this thing? What does the drone operator do (if there is a person at the other end, who may as well be driving a van in that case) if there's a cat or kid that won't move out of the way?
There's a value in "sit your ass at home, have thing brought to you." See: Delivery services, the mail, garbage being picked up, pizza delivery, etc.
Tech wars are the absolute loveliest thing.
The way that thing hops around is both adorable and horrifying at the same time.
My favorite part is at 1:18 where it turns around by jamming its face into the ground and flipping around. Reminds me of that goofy Batpod move from TDK.
Nah. I don't doubt they've thought of all these problems, and yet they're trying to push forward with this anyway, which makes me respect them more. (Assuming the whole thing isn't just a stunt where they've secretly decided it's too impractical to ever come to fruition but they're using it for the publicity, which is entirely possible.)
I just think it's interesting to think about the practicalities of how it would work and the potential problems...or at least more interesting than the "OMG AMAZON DRONES WTF AWESOME(?) LOL" initial reaction a few days ago, and way more interesting than people arguing about who exactly should/shouldn't be offended by perceived slights to whatever stereotyped regional group in the comic.
Judging by the amount of "protect me from EM radiation" products available on Amazon, I think it only died in the media.
We Irish only have low tolerance for bad alcohol. There is no such thing as too much whiskey.
Snake oil is always a popular product.
My friends roommate still won't let her get a wireless router because of "omg wayves in my brains!"
I think you've got it here. Tube makes a fair point, but I honestly doubt this is something they are pursuing in the immediate future, at least to the extent they want us to think. As Tycho says in the newspost though, everything does have to start somewhere.
Also RE: the newspost--I feel like there are cyclical stages of realization regarding privacy. You start out naiive--posting personal messages on people's walls facebook and not realizing everyone can see it. As one learns more about the internet, they become more careful, and paranoid--refusing to even use facebook or give potential employers your SS# lest the world know your dirty secrets. But once you begin to understand the extent of how public everything has become, you just stop caring--your SS# is not a secret to anyone, and anyone who wants to find out anything about you can do so with impunity. Yes, people are spying on you. No, they do not care. Your secrets are interesting to no one.
1. A van has to follow roads and street signs to get somewhere. Outside of banned areas drones can generally fly in a straight line or at worst a parabola.
2. Nevermind that they're also tinkering with automated ones as well.
3. People could drive themselves to get a pizza too. But driving sucks.
for example
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
If the weather's nice then I get my jacket in half an hour. If not I get it in a day. Either way as someone who will soon live inside that radius it still makes at least me an even more solid customer.
Just looking at the obvious stuff first:
Air traffic control. Provided they stay below 1,200 feet and out of the controlled zones around airports/other non Class-G airspace, their isn't any issue with ATC requirements. If the drones are automated you could even argue they are flying under IFR rules and so don't need the same kinds of good weather for VFR.
Privacy. People are worried about the drones having cameras on them, so eliminate the need for them. If the drone navigates through a combination of GPS and sonar (for collision detection) it doesn't need a traditional operator/camera interface.
Getting shot down. 1,200 feet would require a pretty good shot on a moving target with largely unpredictable wind conditions (no wind markers to assist aim). I'd be more worried about urbanites with large nets they can throw off balconies.
Stealing the drones. They are only really vulnerable when they land. If one goes missing there will be a record of the delivery address. So unless you spot a neighbours incoming package and can ninja over to grab the drone whilst they aren't looking (30 minute delivery means someone is waiting for it to arrive) I don't think it will be more than a nuisance in the beginning. Given the expected cost of the drone theft of one would rapidly climb into Felony Grand Theft territory.
Now a few lesser touched upon areas:
Weather. Waterproofing might take care of light rain, but I think anything beyond a mild breeze would have the potential to overturn the drone and result in a crash.
Crashes. Expensive, but you can insure the drone. The problem comes from property damage and injury to people.
Power. 30 minute delivery, if you allow for 5 minutes to load and configure the drone, would mean a potential 50 minute round trip. Current personal drone batteries last for typically 10 minutes. Charge time would mean that you swap the batteries out after every delivery, so some poor tech would do nothing but that all day every day.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
I was thinking Asian people as having the low alcohol tolerance stereotype, actually. Which I think is mostly just people confusing that Asian people are far more likely to flush (turn red) when drinking due to genetics than actually having a high or low alcohol tolerance.
Anyway, this comic was hilarious, especially the baby snatching drones.
So does the internet.
that certainly was a lot of words
Also, I am surprising okay with giving the white babies to Amazon in exchange for drones delivering consumer goods straight to my house.
I think that there are two genuine problems with Drones, the surveillance issue, which yeah... I feel like were going to have to live with the fact that we don't have lots of privacy until maybe it backfires to the point where we as a society have decided that's important. I think we should be worried about Amazon taking pictures of everything we do and selling it to anyone who will pay, including stalkers. Sure, they probably don't plan that as part of their business model, but come on... If The corporation itself didn't do it I'm sure some of it's employees overseeing the program would just for the extra cash.
The other problem I'd be worried about is if a drone malfunctioned and crashed in a way that caused a non-trivial accident. I think that's a legitimate concern. However, I think people are overplaying this concern as well. Companies lose millions of dollars all the time because one person in one location does something really, really stupid. However, businesses can function and profit despite this because the vast majority of their business operations do not cause these kinds of accidents on an everyday basis.
I think Amazon drone delivery is a thing that is feasible, and that we might actually see.
@Gaslight before cars: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who runs over their lawnmower, let alone pets and kids."
@Gaslight before lawnmowers: "in all seriousness I can't see the whole program surviving the first lawsuit from some dumbass who accidentally slices his foot off, let alone pets and kids."
Society was nowhere near as litigious when all of those things were first trying to gain acceptance as it is now, or as regulated for that matter.
To get this off the ground (no pun intended) Amazon is going to have to 1) convince government regulators their these things aren't going to explode on somebody's doorstep/crash into traffic/butcher somebody's yorkshire terrier, and 2) convince their own lawyers that they won't be ruined paying damages if one or two do happen to explode on somebody's doorstep/crash into traffic/butcher somebody's yorkshire terrier.
It will be interesting to see how they go about accomplishing that. Again, assuming the entire thing isn't just a publicity stunt they have no intention of actually following through on.