A drone that can deliver

The Wing Hummingbird 7000W-B weighs less than 15 pounds, has 16 propellers, a top speed of 60 miles per hour, carries up to 2.7 pounds, and has a delivery radius of about 6 miles. The FAA authorizes it for beyond-line-of-sight piloting.

Will discovers Wing and Walmart

Nathan Edwards's neighbor Will added several local dads to a group chat after discovering they were in the delivery range for Wing's partnership with Walmart. Items could arrive in 25 minutes.

Can you send to someone else?

Edwards asked whether drone delivery had to go to your own yard. Will tested it by ordering Edwards a potato. Rick independently ordered Edwards a potato too. Both arrived within minutes.

“There is currently an air strike squadron of potatoes headed to our neighborhood.”

The potatoes arrive

At 12:14 PM, a drone dropped a doggie bag in Edwards's yard containing a single russet potato and a bottle of water. Three minutes later, another arrived in Will's yard with the same contents.

The neighborhood meets

As more drones arrived, neighbors who hadn't met introduced themselves. Jason ordered gloves. Dev, in the next development over, was just out of drone range and could only watch. A storm eventually stopped the deliveries.

The math is absurd

Each potato delivery cost eighty two cents total from the Walmart Supercenter a few miles away. There was no minimum order, no delivery fee, and prices matched in-store. Wing wasn't collecting sales tax either.

“Wing is absolutely losing money on this.”

Edwards sends a potato to Bill

Edwards remembered his friend Bill had been going through a rough time, so he sent him a potato to his yard without asking permission first. Bill later asked Edwards to drone deliver candy for his kids.

What stops harassment?

Edwards asked Wing what safeguards prevented unauthorized deliveries. Wing spokesperson Jessie Poole-Strang said customers must be physically present for their first order, every order requires a verified account, and customers can send to friends or family in eligible areas.

“Customers must be physically present for their first order, and every order requires a verified account and confirmation of a clear delivery zone.”

When is it actually useful?

For single lightweight items like deodorant or sunscreen, drone delivery seems more environmentally friendly than driving to the store. It's cheaper than DoorDash. But ordering more than a pound of stuff makes the math worse.

The hidden cost

Drone delivery further squeezes gig workers in an already shrinking labor market and gives big companies an excuse to suppress wages. You don't have to pay a drone, and you don't have to tip it either.

Three weeks of potato warfare

Over three weeks, Edwards sent three potatoes to the dads, plus one to himself to throw them off the scent. Someone else, probably Will, escalated by sending Rick a broccoli potato soup.

What Edwards learned

Edwards now knows a few more people in his neighborhood. He learned drone delivery is more useful to him than agentic AI. Given the opportunity to airdrop subsidized potatoes to friends, he took it.