Much ado in 2016 about Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat tightening belts and putting the kiebosh on some of Google's more fanciful projects. RIP Project Ara, Bubble Car, etc. It's reasonable to muse about when the belt-tightening reaches a dulling point. When does Google lose its edge? How far is too far with regards to Google losing its 20% time luster?
Amazon is piggy-backing on Android with the Fire OS and on Chromecast with its Fire TV line. But Bezos is blazing trails elsewhere. No one can touch Amazon in the online retail world. And it's outpacing all other players with its retail innovation.
"The ecommerce giant was approved for a patent in April for airborne warehouses that use drones to make speedy deliveries. The patent was recently discovered by an analyst at CB Insights. Amazon's patent contends that such a system would allow for deliveries to be made in minutes. The move could also reduce the resources needed to make a delivery. The patent describes how Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) blimps would circle over cities at 45,000 feet and launch drones carrying orders. The drones would initially fall to earth relying largely on gravity, and their motors would fire up for the final stretch."
http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/29/technology/amazon-aerial-warehouse/
