It’s sometimes a bit rough having to wait for a package from an online delivery service, that bit of kit depends on the warehouse and couriers there’s always a bit of time in transit. But, if Amazon get their way then certain areas will have pizza-delivery times for the online purchases thanks to something the company calls Prime Air.

Prime Air is a new plan which would use drones, similar to those commercial devices from Parrot, to make deliveries within a 10 mile (16km) radius of a given warehouse. The result will be limited (at first) coverage of areas which are able to receive deliveries from Amazon in 30 minutes or less. Which means that you’ll be able to start worrying about the fate of your latest book about an hour after it has been ordered.

It seems almost like a joke or a massive pipe dream but Amazon’s FAQ includes the response “It looks like science fiction, but it’s real. From a technology point of view, we’ll be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.” The company hopes to have their Prime Air drones in the sky as soon as 2015 but it almost goes without saying that Amazon won’t be rolling it out in South Africa any time soon.