Amazon and Walmart Need to Give Up on Drones

Technological advances have fundamentally changed how we shop, from having seemingly endless choices of goods at our fingertips to retailers knowing what we want before we want it. But there are some technologies that are more of a corporate flex than anything that can get online goods delivered faster or help shoppers avoid the checkout line.

Amazon.com Inc.’s Just Walk Out technology got this kind of reality check last week after the cashierless system turned out to be too complicated to run at a full-size grocery store and not totally autonomous.

Companies have big plans for drone delivery this year. Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said as much in his letter to shareholders this morning that drone delivery will become "pervasive over time." But that technology should be next on the chopping block.