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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Drones: American Innovation Fail

So American's have gotten are trying  to get drones up and running for commercial things like package delivery, movie films, news reporting and so on.

No-doubt the drones are all Chinese made but the "big market" is the US - at least that's where all the fame and fortune will come from (think GoPro).

Er, well, at least until the FAA hammers them out of commercial existence.

So I read today in the WSJ about how drones are creating new Hollywood opportunity: flying through the spokes of a Ferris Wheel, off the edge of a cliff, shots you can't really take with human operators, zooming around in front of motorcycles, etc.

Only problem is if "mom" catches them making just a single mistake it will ruin it all for everyone (from the WSJ): "... one stupid mistake could ruin the drone business for everyone."

Who's mom?

The FAA, the whiney press, do-gooders, and an assortment of other whack-a-doodles think drones are the next satan: they are going to destroy the planet, ruin all air traffic, kill people, etc.

Good God!

Imagine a commercial business flying drones for some commercial purpose - someone might get hurt!

No, No, No...

They must be controlled - and if anyone makes a mistake - we'll take everyone's privileges away!

I haven't heard this kind of talk since I was about six (6) and my ten (10) year old cousin would sneek us cookies or read us a ghost story: "If you tell your mom I read this to you I'll never read you another ghost story!"

Really!

We are well beyond the "nanny state."

Few, for example, remember the 1900's British "red flag" laws requiring someone with a red flag to walk sixty yards in front of the car to warn people the car was coming.

Make it safe for everyone.

Funny how no one has a problem with cars killing some 40,000 people in the US a year.

But God forbid a drone might hit someone...  (Lions and tigers and bears - Oh My!)

What's sad is not that we live in the ultimate "nanny state" but that people tolerate this...

Oh no, we cannot innovate, it might be dangerous...  Like your older cousin threatening to tattle if you jump off the roof.

Spare me...

We, like the drone that's run out of power, are about to fall out of the sky...

Same with "e-cigarettes"...

Do you really need the red flag out in front of the car?

Nope, you need that to protect the buggy whip industry...

(And how well did that work...?)

No, its all dangerous...

How short would our lives be if we had no automobiles?