Matternet
A group of well-intentioned but hopelessly naive students (a.k.a., progressives) have come up with a plan to provide medicine and such-like to distant, isolated parts of Haiti, darkest Africa, and other such lovely places. They're calling it Matternet. They propose to set up a high-tech drone network to deliver these supplies:
This is a perfect example of how liberals and other flavors of Save The World crusaders fail to acknowledge harsh reality in their planning. To wit: how are you going to protect these charging stations from thieves? Or even the drones themselves, for that matter? The endemically poor do not consider ramifications and long term impact when they steal something; they just do it. In the areas you're talking about using this Matternet, the locals wouldn't even consider it "stealing." They're just picking up unguarded valuables to sell for a few coins or a meal. If you're depending on altruism and community spirit, you're in for a rude awakening from your naivete.
I've been in plenty of Third World shitholes, and they all have one thing in common: survival. A man with an empty belly and a starving family has no use for ethics. He'll do what he has to do -- including taking and selling drones and their charging stations for whatever he can get for them. You can't steal a road -- not easily, at any rate -- and the market value of a chunk of asphalt is somewhat less than that of a high density lithium-ion battery or a copper-wound stator.
Matternet’s drone network has three key components. First, the drones—custom-built autonomous electric quadcopters with GPS and sensors, capable of carrying a few kilos up to 10 kilometers (and more as the tech advances).
Next, the firm will set up a network of solar-powered charging stations where drones autonomously drop off dead batteries and pick up charged ones. A drone battery that can travel 10 km need not limit the drone itself to 10 km—rather, these drones can theoretically travel the whole network by swapping out batteries.
The final component will be an operating system to orchestrate the drone web, share information with aviation authorities, and fly missions 24/7/365.
This is a perfect example of how liberals and other flavors of Save The World crusaders fail to acknowledge harsh reality in their planning. To wit: how are you going to protect these charging stations from thieves? Or even the drones themselves, for that matter? The endemically poor do not consider ramifications and long term impact when they steal something; they just do it. In the areas you're talking about using this Matternet, the locals wouldn't even consider it "stealing." They're just picking up unguarded valuables to sell for a few coins or a meal. If you're depending on altruism and community spirit, you're in for a rude awakening from your naivete.
I've been in plenty of Third World shitholes, and they all have one thing in common: survival. A man with an empty belly and a starving family has no use for ethics. He'll do what he has to do -- including taking and selling drones and their charging stations for whatever he can get for them. You can't steal a road -- not easily, at any rate -- and the market value of a chunk of asphalt is somewhat less than that of a high density lithium-ion battery or a copper-wound stator.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 17:25
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