It doesn't matter if dude can replicate these maneuvers with a Parrot -- after hours and hours of practice and maybe nail it once in twenty tries. The computers performing the Penn maneuvers can reliably repeat them over and over again, and could fly as many quadrotors as whoever's footing the bill cares to buy. That's the difference the "autonomous" part makes.

And if you think "Bah, that's impractical - you need a big computer somewhere off-board to do the calculations" then you need to reread Moores Law.

Agreed. Summaries this deceptive belong on... whatever the political opposite of Fox News is.

You use electricity in your vacuum cleaner, your blender, and your hair dryer, and you pay for each, even though you don't use them at the same time. Nobody complains about that.

The difference is the unlimited plans. If consumers would consent to paying straight metered rates for bandwidth, like we do for electricity and gas/oil, we could be free of all these stupid packages and deals and calling circles and contracts.

Cell phone service and broadband internet are commodity utilities, yet they're marketed as "lifestyle" services -- which means, expensive advertising that appeals to emotions.

I hope that, before every device in our lives gets connected, that bandwidth becomes as boring and predictable as electricity or heating oil.

To add another Shirky quote...

"The loss of control you fear is already in the past."