Todays drones, (also known as “UAVs,” “UAS,” or “remote-controlled model aircraft”), are the equivalent of what the Mac was in 1984 or what the Internet was in 1995. The Mac allowed pretty much anyone to use a computer. The Internet allowed pretty much anyone to access all available information. Both computers and the Internet had previously been used by relatively few people as compared to today.

The drone industry is about to take off, (pun intended), and it will be enormous. The technical capabilities and ease of use of today’s drones allow pretty much anyone who wants to fly, fly. And a lot of people want to fly. Until now, relatively few people were able to fly drones. They were very complicated to build, and difficult to learn to fly. That is no longer the case. Today’s drones are ready-to-fly, easy to fly, relatively inexpensive and very capable. As time goes on they will be even cheaper and far more capable.

Drones are not only “weapons of war.” Yes, one of their first practical uses was in warfare, but the same may be said of airplanes and helicopters. As was the case with airplanes and helicopters, drones will be used by the military, the public sector, corporations and regular people like you and me. They will be commonplace, useful and profitable. Drones will allow us to do what we have and have not done before— more safely and far less expensively for both pleasure and profit.