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After much delay, Amazon's drone deliveries are entering American neighborhoods. However, it's not quite the futuristic picture that some had in mind.
In the last decade, tech companies have promoted drones as the future of delivery, painting a picture of Starbucks orders, medications, and Hamburger Helper dropped from the sky to our doorsteps. But the drone programs still have a long way to go before it reaches scale.
According to a New York Times article, Amazon has been operating its drone technology in College Station, Texas, and Lockeford, California. Customers in these locations can order products on Amazon and have them delivered by drone. Prime Air delivery customers receive a one-time Amazon gift card and can access promotional items.
Each drone can only handle one item at a time, and it cannot weigh more than five pounds, be too big, or be fragile. And the drones can't fly in inclement weather.
In an email to Insider, Amazon spokesperson Av Zammit said that Prime Air delivery currently operates in clear weather. "Our new drone, the MK30, which comes into service next year, will be able to fly in light rain and in hotter and cooler temperatures," he wrote.
The drones are limited by what they can transport. For example, the article mentioned a drone could deliver Listerine breath strips or a can of Campbell's minestrone soup, but not both at the same time.
Sometimes, small products, like a jar of peanut butter, come in boxes the size of a shoe box. Some customers question the drones' utility.
"The drones feel more like a toy than anything — a toy that wastes a huge amount of paper and cardboard," one Amazon customer told the New York Times.
"Prime Air's ultimate goal is delivery in 30 minutes or less," Zammit said via email. "Today, customers receive their items in under an hour."
