Anyone concerned about drones in the future?

[kidicarus13]

Specifically smaller drones able to be operated by a single individual. We already have surveillance cameras operating 24/7 in major metro areas, are drones next? And then they'll spread to the patrolling the suburbs. And then they'll be allowed to hover 50' over your house for reasons involving "public safety". And there will be laws enacted to protect drones. They will be the eyes and ears of some group of people in the future. Too much tinfoil this early in the evening?

[Justin]

Drones are the wave of the future, and I don't think there's much to be done about it.

Of course, one way to stop a bad guy with a drone is to be a good guy with a drone.

[HoneyBadger]

Time to start working on a High Power Microwave "self defense" tool. ...For the children, of course!

Drones are the wave of the future, and I don't think there's much to be done about it.

Of course, one way to stop a bad guy with a drone is to be a good guy with a 12 gauge shotgun

FIFY

[Brian]

Have you ever seen one live? I bought one a few months back, and they are definitely not fit for good, discrete surveillance yet. They are loud, batteries don't last very long, and most of them don't have cameras good enough to really "spy" on someone that well.

That being said, I met a lot of the guys involved and, unlike the firearms industry, they are strongly in support and pushing for more regulation, to make clear what is ok and what is not ok. Too many idiots are doing things like crashing into buildings in urban areas, flying into aircraft paths, etc. and that crap needs to stop. One of the proposals goes so far as to say you'd actually have to get some sort of drone "pilots" license from the FAA to be able to fly one.

It will be interesting to see how the technology evolves over the next 5 years. How many sci-fi shows have some sort of automated drone thing flying around? That stuff won't be science fiction for too much longer. They are improving very fast, and "piloting" one of the latest generation of drones is super easy compared to what it was like just a few years ago. Somebody developed a GPS-enabled drone not too long ago that will follow you around with a tracker - the idea is that it will keep filming you if you are skiing, surfing, biking, jeeping, whatever. Obviously this could have other unintended uses pretty easy.

[WETWRKS]

Signal jammer anyone?

[ben4372]

Signal jammer anyone?

Not legally.

[Rooskibar03]

Not legally.

Geez officer I don't know where that interference is coming from?

[OtterbatHellcat]

Geez officer I don't know where that interference is coming from?

lol


I can see the benefits AND the detriments that will follow if drones become a mainstay of society. It's one of those.... I love it when they do what I want them to do, and.... I hate it when they're doing something I don't want them to do, kind of things.

Either way, we're all going to watch it play out in our lifetimes. I hope it doesn't eventually turn out to be a horrible thing that got out of control.

[ray1970]

I want a drone so I can make cool videos at the range.

[RblDiver]

I bought one for my sister for Christmas. She does kite photography and turns those into 3d maps of areas (she's working on her doctorate for GIS). I'd hoped that this one with a camera could be useful to her, since it was small (about the size of your hand) and portable. Unfortunately, she said the camera's resolution is such that it probably won't really be useful for her work, but she still enjoyed flying it.

Brian's right, they're pretty noisy. I suppose if you were mowing the lawn you probably wouldn't hear it, but it sounds like a pretty loud mosquito. Plus you'd probably hear the person cursing as it starts going where they don't want it to go! lol