shiva

FFS

How about we have an address system that actually works first, every single piece of official documentation I have has a different name and address on it.

we really are back into the post bust fantasy land

the_red_sheep

After reading the thread title I fully expected a link to the Pan Arabia Enquirer, although Arabian Business is only marginal more believable these days.

captainflack

It takes a month to get a visa while your passport and handfuls of pointless paperwork worms its way through a bunch of lazy locals putting pointless ticks in boxes and stamps on everything.

But through the magic of technology, they're going to shave 30 mins off this long winded bureaucratic process by firing the guy on a bike and replacing him with a model helicopter.

Dubai's brilliance never ceases to amaze me.

BinCat

x 2

Boomhauer

Sounds like a publicity gimmick for the world to see.

Amazon recently floated the idea of having packages delivered by drones.

I suspect Dubai thinks that if they put this concept into practice it will get the world talking about Dubai and how advanced they are. If put into practice, drones may only deliver a fraction of the mail, just enough to claim Dubai has a drone mail delivery service.

scrubbedexpat141

I think I'll take up shooting again.

Bongoman2

Exactly. The Amazon anouncement was also proven to be just a publicity gimmick, altho Jeff Bezos was more realistic saying it would take years to put in place, whereas Dubai went full crazy (tip: never go full crazy) and said they will also use retina scanners to ensure security and would be tested in the next 6 months and in place within the year.

riiiiiiight, so we have to stand in front of the drone to allow it to scan our eyes.
Somebody at headquarters is on some good gear

Bahtatboy

Maybe he's also the one who came up with the zero road fatalities by 2020.

mikewot

Someone on the ground is going to have to fly/control these things, one person per drone. It'll have to land and the enginess shut down so you can pick it up to scan you. Then put it down and the 'controller' will fire it up and take off again.
So many questions about this:
If you're working in an office block you're going to need to come outside. So someone will have to call you and ascertain a suitable landing point.

These things can't fly very high (not over tower blocks) so they're going to have to follow the roads (marina/JBR). How will they avoid obstacles like flagpoles etc. because I doubt the camera resolution is good enough to pick things like that out at any distance.

In yea goode olde days of early flying the planes used to follow roads and railways etc. because navigation was non existant. Because they kept smashing into each other the 'Rule of the Right' was introduced so that following a road etc. you had to have it on your right to avoid head ons, this rule still exists. Now we have GPS but the drones have to follow the roads. If there are a few of them flying around how do they avoid each other? Planes have onboard electronics to warn over other aircraft, but that involves a transmitter and receiver all of which adds weight (and cost).

In theory this is a really great idea, wow factor! In reality, meh, not so much! It'll fizzle out and be forgotten about.

Bongoman2

Might be time for www.WackyDubaiProjects.com

A couple of the top of my head.

- Floating the QE2 inside the Palm and turning it into a hotel
- An outdoor ski slope in the desert
- Cooled sand beach at Versace residence on Creek
- Zero road deaths by 2020

scrubbedexpat141

Gotta disagree mate, I think in theory it's ****ing stupid as well as reality...

Bahtatboy

QE2 as a hotel isn't daft, IMHO.

Cypselos

Wasn't the idea to moor it about 12 nautical miles off shore to allow for a few high rollers...

Bahtatboy

Even more sense. There's a small cruise liner permanently berthed in London (??? Wharf) which has been turned into a hotel--apart from crap tansport links to it, it worked fine.

scrubbedexpat141

HMS Belfast?