How We Talk About Drones

I made this supercut in October, my brain inundated with the word ‘drone.’ And I thought I’d dig it up again to celebrate today, the day in which Motherboard’s feature editor Brian Anderson launches Drone On, an essentialist’s guide to the growing flock of unmanned aerial vehicles taking the blue out of the sky. From high-grade hobbyest manufacturers to military-weapon-expo hustlers, Drone On takes a scoop out of the widening industry, poised to refry and repackage these manless aircrafts by all means possible.

Coinciding with the redesign of our site, it’s an especially eventful day over here at the office as we prepare to revel in the moment of Motherboard 3.0. So, listening to a ton of talking heads and netizens utter drone in a vast range of contexts at this point makes about as much sense as it makes me crazy. It’s odd how the word ‘drone’ had totally infilitrated our lexicon. Just a few decades ago, no one thought of drones as deadly flying robots. But while George Harrison was sitting down to tune his sitar, it’s not as if drones hadn’t already existed.

Of course, Anderson’s video opus of the lightweight self-piloted machines arrives only after he’s unloaded a heavy load of intense ongoing coverage. From the shadowy realm of UAV regulation, to sporting applications, to mid-air refueling and the nuclear drone Godfather, the drone world goes deep. Oh yeah, don’t forget the catcopter.