As people abide by lockdowns and social distancing rules, drones have come to play a critical role in public health and helping cities operate amid COVID-19. Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has seen a surge in demand. The use of the company's delivery service grew 500 percent in 2020 over 2019.
"I think the pandemic does have a silver lining in that we've realized how important it is to have access to the things people need every day, whether it be urgent medicine or even just staples around the house like toilet paper. Wing was happy to play our small part in the cities we're operating in to help bridge that gap of what people need and the access they have to have to things, and we think drone delivery is a very sensible way to do that," James Burgess, CEO of Wing, told Cheddar on Friday.
Before the pandemic, Wing's main focus was on residential drone delivery which proved to be a benefit when people swiftly began to adjust their lives last March. It wasn't just toilet paper and food people needed; medicine and even educational materials needed to get around.
"During the pandemic, the local library wanted to connect kids to their reading material and they had no other way to do it; and so we were happy to participate and deliver library books by drone, which is not something we had thought of but [were] really excited to apply what we can do on the technology front to what the communities need," Burgess said.
Wing currently conducts commercial drone delivery operations to consumers in the United States, Australia, and Finland. In 2019, Wing launched its U.S. drone delivery in Christiansburg, Virginia.
A better understanding of the function of drone delivery is an experiment. Individuals, businesses, and Wing are all trying ideas out. "We had a coffee vendor come to us and said, 'I don't know if people will order coffee by drone.' And it turns out to be exceedingly popular, so it's a combination of Wing trying things and seeing what's popular, seeing what works and delivers value, and also having a two-way conversation with communities and being willing to explore their ideas as well," Burgess said. (I mean, who doesn't want their coffee delivered by drone to their door?)
There may come a time we look up and see scores of drones navigating the sky. However, as they fly above our heads and to our homes now, safety and security is a big concern for many people. Though the risk may not be zero yet, Burgess assured it was safe. "Fortunately, from all the work Wing has done and working with regulators, we actually have data that shows this is the safest way to transport a package — safer than a car, even safer than walking down the sidewalk minding your own business," he said.
As people are adapting to the idea of drone delivery, Wing is also acknowledging communities' needs and concerns and says its drones create new opportunities for local businesses and help cities eliminate congestion on the road.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
