The Crowded Skies of Alphabet Google
December 2, 2015
I read “Google Is Ramping Up Hiring for Its Ambitious Plan to Make ‘Energy Kites’.” The idea is that energy kites will join Loon balloons in the sky. According to the write up:
Makani’s energy “kites” don’t resemble the type you see on beaches or in fields on windy days: They’re plane-like machines tethered to ground stations. Rotors on the kite launch it high into the air, where it then starts to rotate, driving an on-board generator to produce electricity, which moves down its tether to a grid below.
Interesting. What happens when Amazon drones fly through a Loon balloon serviced region where the Alphabet Google energy kites are aloft. Toss in some consumer drones, the efforts of various government contractors, and assorted birds. What happens? I do not know. Birds struggle with jet engines. How will the creatures adopt to energy kites? My hunch is that the answer may be, “Not a problem.” Right. Okay for humans. For the hapless white pileated woodpecker? Bad luck.
I much prefer the search and content processing thing. But that’s just my old fashioned view of a company with a core competence in information access.
Stephen E Arnold, December 2, 2015