Evil government bureaucrats quash insane (and possibly deadly) entrepreneurs
It’s a pretty slow news day ’round these parts, which explains why I have time to blog about the Tacocopter, a brilliant and insane new invention that involves sending unmanned military drones to your house to deliver tacos. Think I’m joking? Here is how Tacocopter’s own website describes its product:
Flying Robots Deliver Tacos To Your Location
It’s really a remarkable idea that combines the plot of a ’70s Japanese sci-fi series with a mid-’90s stoner comedy. “Dude… we don’t have to leave the couch… we can totally order tacos… from a giant robot!”
But as with all great inventions, it seems that The Man is stepping in and telling our plucky young start up, “No queremos los robots de los tacos.” Here’s the Huffington Post with the scoop:
Simpson told HuffPost that because of the FAA’s regulations — as well as other minor problems, like navigating the treacherous terrain of an urban environment, keeping the food warm, finding a city map precise enough to avoid crashes 100 percent of the time, avoiding birds, balconies and telephone wires, delivering food to people indoors, delivering food to the right person, dealing with greedy humans who would just steal the Tacocopter as soon as it got to them, etc. — the Tacocopter website exists more as a conversation starter about the future of food delivery (and delivery in general), as well as about the commercial uses of unmanned vehicles, than an actual startup plan or business.
Darn gubmint bureaucrats gettin’ in the way of me an’ my Predator drone taco machine!
In all seriousness, I do agree that the Tacocopter, if actually implemented, would be a true disastrophe from a public safety point of view. And that’s even before we factor in that robots will inevitably turn against their Hu-mon overlords, as we’ve seen in countless movies and TV shows. Do you really want to dodge taco-missiles being fired at you while you’re walking down the street? Do you really want to have to leap out of the way as a giant robot lobs piping-hot grease bombs at you when you leave your house? Because that’s the kind of futuristic fast food nightmare we’re looking at should the Tacocopter ever come to pass, my friends.
I’m scared.
Hold me.
