In the Belly of Drones: From War to Home
Unmanned aircraft have proved their prowess against al Qaeda. Now they’re poised to take off on the home front. Possible missions: patrolling borders, tracking perps, dusting crops. And maybe watching us all? - John Horgan
When I was seven, I had a vivid nightmare about the cyborg assassin Terminatrix hunting me across the Terminator universe. TX's superhuman shape-shifting ability and confidence seem to threaten, even transcend our existence. But, the "Rise of the Machines" is no longer trapped in fiction. In past years, we have heard about drones, one of these feared machines, in the media as they embodied human characteristics, such as intelligence, specifically autonomy and decision-making capability, and wiped out enemy combatants, even civilians, in war. We began to fear them, for real.
Amazon Prime Air and the Netflix Spoof
But why is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) poised to completely open American airspace to drones by 2015 (Horgan)? Late 2013 on "60 Minutes," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos released an instantly viral, one-minute video of the futuristic, commercial Prime Air miniature delivery drone. Amazon's proposal has captured the hearts of Forbes financial moguls and tech savvy consumers alike, with its Prime Air's revolutionary 30-minute order to delivery process, its promise to make science fiction a reality (Amazon). So, do-gooder, non-militaristic drones such as Prime Air are the answer. By FAA's decision in 2015, Amazon says, Prime Air will be ready to serve its vast online marketplace (Amazon).
Still, not everyone shares Amazon's optimistic outlook. In a satirical video, Netflix represents the doubt, and even incredulity, that tarnishes Amazon Prime Air's chances ...
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Benedictus, Leo. "The artists who are giving a human face to the US's 'bug splat' drone strikes." The Guardian. The Guardian, 7 Apr 2014. Web. 10 Apr 2014.
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Horgan, John. "Unmanned Flight: The Drones Come Home." National Geographic. Mar 2013: n. page. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Roe, Bill, dir. "The Human Factor." Writ. David Amann, Prod. Andrew W. Marlowe, Perf. Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, et al. Castle. ABC: KABC, 06 May 2013. Television.
(Global Security, 2014) There seems to be numerous drone flights, conducted by the Air Force’s
On the use of drones, NYT’s Peter M. Singer (“Do Drones Undermine Democracy?”) makes the comprehensive argument that the use of drones goes against the how wars are meant to be fought—human participation. It can be counter argued that these automatons are better in terms of expendability; personnel are not easily replaced while drones are easily replaceable. The Bush 43 strategy relied more on men, and it did yielded adverse results politically. The switch to drones presented dynamic political benefits, for which Singer argued allowed for circumvention of aggravated/emotive discourse among members of the American populace, academics and mass media. It is imperative to remember that the cost of the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq—increases in casualties—was detrimental to the American credibility and brought about victory to Obama in 2008 elections.
Evidence: Drones have many beneficial uses, including in search-and-rescue missions, scientific research, mapping, and more. But deployed without proper regulation, drones equipped with facial recognition software, infrared technology, and speakers capable of monitoring personal conversations would cause unprecedented invasions of our privacy rights. Interconnected drones could enable mass tracking of vehicles and people in wide areas. Tiny drones could go completely unnoticed while peering into the window of a home or place of worship.
future. It contains an example of an upcoming drone delivery; Amazon Prime Air, surrounded by
The FAA works on the gradual incorporation of rules and considerations in order to guarantee security and privacy. The U.S. Congress expects that in 2015 commercial drones will be ready to fly under regulated circumstances, but experts said that it would be until 2020 that unmanned aerial system are fully integrated. Nevertheless, laws will be published step by step according to their complexity and grade of autonomy. First small drones will be allowed to fly than larger ones, first drones operated by a ground-based pilot than automate long distance flights, and areas wi...
The moment I received the prompt to explore just war theory, the first controversial topic containing strong arguments on both sides that interested me was that of drone warfare. As tensions rise between countries and technology improves, the possibility of advanced warfare among nations seems imminent as drones are deployed in replacement of soldiers. The purposes of these unmanned drones in present day are primarily intel collection and target acquisition, which usually leads to extermination of known and presumed threats to the dispatcher. In the United States, when it comes to the topic of using drones within foreign countries, most of the citizens will agree that it is an efficient way to remotely deal with immediate threats to the country.
Brutality and injustice made us raise our hands towards the sky for years; God didn't respond us, commercial drones came to our rescue(M.F.
Richard Matheson’s famed short story ‘Button, Button’ is often alluded to as a simplistic representation of drone policy. Imagine a man offered you a box with a big red button on it. He tells you if you press it, you will receive a hefty sum of money, no questions asked. There is only one consequence: someone you don’t know will be killed. It’s an interesting dilemma – would you press it, knowing some nameless person’s life rests in your hands?
The military use of lethally autonomous robots (LAR) is not science fiction – it is happening right now. A robot is a mechanism guided by automatic controls. Autonomous robots are able to independently maintain stability and plan action. The first generation of military robots have operated under direct human control. The most well-known military robots are “drones” or unmanned aerial vehicles. The drone system currently in use is the unmanned aerial vehicles IAI Pioneer & RQ-1 Predator which can be armed with air-to-ground missiles and remotely operated from a command center. Drones have already been used by the U.S. military for unmanned air attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other war zones. (Merchant, 276).
Introduction Reed Hastings (co-founder) founded Netflix in 1997. During this time, Netflix offered DVD rentals by mail. As Netflix went public in 2002, shortly a year later their subscription reached the one million mark (Netflix Management, 2011). Recently, Netflix was recognized as one of the 50 most innovative companies, ranking number eight for “streaming itself into a $9 billion powerhouse (and crushing Blockbuster)” with 20 million subscribers (fastcompany.com, 2011). This success shows how Netflix embraced a business approach where their mission was to take the troublesome experience of everyday consumers and transform them into a business opportunity.
Anderson, Kenneth. "The Case for Drones." Commentary. Jun. 2013: 14. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Another name for drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS). These are “aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or increasingly, autonomously following a pre-programmed mission” (Cole 4). Even though there are many unique types of drones, but they usually fall under two main categories: ones that are armed and equipped with missiles and bombs and others that are used for surveillance. In the past couple of years the use of drones has increased dramatically. The reason being because “unlike manned aircraft they can stay aloft for many hours and are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew” (Cole 13). There are drones that can actually fly over more than fifty hours. In countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the Predator and U.S Reaper are physically there. Cause of the power of technology th...
Amazon is one of the largest brands in the world, reporting $23.18 billion in sales last quarter. They operate with a customer-first mentality. This is clear in their mission statement, which is as follows: “We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators (Amazon).” Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos seeks to bring the highest quality products and most efficient services to their customers. According to critics of Amazon, Bezos’ goals have lent themselves to a
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) are controlled via two ways which are by pilots from ground or by a self directed pre-programmed mission. Cole and Wright (2010) identify that having various types, drones basically meant to serves the following two purposes:
Drones are an emerging technology that has countless benefits and a myriad of intangible side-effects. I will clearly explain how drones effect on our lives by exploring the Social, Cultural, Political and Environmental impacts drone technology presents in our lives today.