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Google-backed drones will drop library books so kids in Virginia can do their summer reading
Technology
Google-backed drones will drop library books so kids in Virginia can do their summer reading
Wing, the tech giant’s sister company, will deliver them to students in the state’s Montgomery County School District.
By Rachel Lerman
June 10, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
Kelly Passek has thought up a way to get kids to read this summer: deliver library books by drone. ... Passek, a middle-school librarian, was one of the first customers of a drone delivery service launched in Christiansburg, Va., last year by Wing, a company owned by Google parent Alphabet. After seeing how quickly her household goods and meals were delivered, she petitioned the company to take on library books, too. The company said yes, and the first books fly out this week.
“I think kids are going to be just thrilled to learn that they are going to be the first in the world to receive a library book by drone,” said Passek, who works for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Drone delivery has been an anticipated promise from tech companies since Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos showed off a surprise prototype during a “60 Minutes” interview in 2013. Other companies jumped on the bandwagon shortly after, but nearly seven years later, the service is only available in limited tests in a few areas of the world, bogged down by regulatory hurdles. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Domino’s partnered with drone company Flirtey to deliver a pizza by drone in New Zealand in 2016, but the service hasn’t taken flight outside the country. And UPS received federal approval to test delivering some packages by drone in the United States last year.
[Virginia town becomes home to nation’s first drone package delivery service]
Wing received federal approval last year to deliver by drone in Virginia, beating Amazon’s Prime Air to the public testing milestone. The company also delivers packages, which can weigh up to about three pounds, in Helsinki and two Australian cities.
{snip}
Rachel Lerman
Rachel Lerman covers breaking news in technology for The Washington Post. Follow https://twitter.com/rachelerman
Google-backed drones will drop library books so kids in Virginia can do their summer reading
Wing, the tech giant’s sister company, will deliver them to students in the state’s Montgomery County School District.
By Rachel Lerman
June 10, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
Kelly Passek has thought up a way to get kids to read this summer: deliver library books by drone. ... Passek, a middle-school librarian, was one of the first customers of a drone delivery service launched in Christiansburg, Va., last year by Wing, a company owned by Google parent Alphabet. After seeing how quickly her household goods and meals were delivered, she petitioned the company to take on library books, too. The company said yes, and the first books fly out this week.
“I think kids are going to be just thrilled to learn that they are going to be the first in the world to receive a library book by drone,” said Passek, who works for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Drone delivery has been an anticipated promise from tech companies since Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos showed off a surprise prototype during a “60 Minutes” interview in 2013. Other companies jumped on the bandwagon shortly after, but nearly seven years later, the service is only available in limited tests in a few areas of the world, bogged down by regulatory hurdles. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Domino’s partnered with drone company Flirtey to deliver a pizza by drone in New Zealand in 2016, but the service hasn’t taken flight outside the country. And UPS received federal approval to test delivering some packages by drone in the United States last year.
[Virginia town becomes home to nation’s first drone package delivery service]
Wing received federal approval last year to deliver by drone in Virginia, beating Amazon’s Prime Air to the public testing milestone. The company also delivers packages, which can weigh up to about three pounds, in Helsinki and two Australian cities.
{snip}
Rachel Lerman
Rachel Lerman covers breaking news in technology for The Washington Post. Follow https://twitter.com/rachelerman
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