I can’t help but think a car would have been a better delivery mechanism but then Google wouldn’t get much press from it. Doing “good things” just for better optics really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
> I can’t help but think a car would have been a better delivery mechanism but then Google wouldn’t get much press from it.
i can see a pretty obvious way that could get even more press for Google’s corporate parent, since it would be an Alphabet firm doing it directly and not merely an outside but Google-supported firm.
> Doing “good things” just for better optics really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Dissing people for doing good things just because you've ascribed to them optics as their motive leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Today, sure, using a van would be much more efficient. But this is probably a way to test and improve the technology, working towards making it more efficient than a van.
More importantly, the optics here are not just about you and me and other adults. Think about it how it looks to a kid. You can have your library books show up in a van, and that might be fun, but if you could have a drone drop off your library books? What kid wouldn't sit around outside all day waiting for their books to arrive?
I think we should get kids excited about reading a book through the experience the book provides, not the experience the delivery provides.
In the past they used to have book mobiles, and probably still do in some areas. It's a library in a van...not like a UPS delivery where you pick a book out online and you only get that book. A book mobile is where kids can go in the van, physically touch and feel books and choose one that excites them. They can talk to other kids, talk to the librarian...
At some point when drone delivery of books get boring, someone will need to invent teleportation just to get kids to read.
i can see a pretty obvious way that could get even more press for Google’s corporate parent, since it would be an Alphabet firm doing it directly and not merely an outside but Google-supported firm.
> Doing “good things” just for better optics really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Dissing people for doing good things just because you've ascribed to them optics as their motive leaves a bad taste in my mouth.