A father spends a few hundred dollars because he can't be bothered to walk up 2640 feet twice a day?

I don't have children -- but if you do, that is part of the deal. Especially if you aren't a hard target by the mob/CIA/Columbia cartels.

You either walk them yourself or let them go. You don't assign a drone to do it.

for extremely cold mornings...to avoid the quarter-mile walk
But the son doesn't get to avoid the cold walk?

I'm with Jim, back in the day (not so long ago), if it was that far, we'd walk with the kid (or if it's too cold for your widdle tootsies, DRIVE).
But, I guess that won't get you in the paper.

This is creepy. Go out and play. Come home when the street lights are on.

Reminds me of the science fiction novels where a large chunk of the action was in avoiding the all pervasive surveillance...

Sounds like an excuse to build a drone. It is an interesting problem set, too.

As for privacy, this isn't the cops - and they'll tell you that have no expectation of privacy in public space - it's his son. Until he's paying rent, he has no privacy. That's generally how it works.

Says IRA: "Sounds like an excuse to build a drone. It is an interesting problem set, too."

You know, I'll bet that's it. Ninety percent of it, anyway. Of course, for the kid it sounds like an excuse to play "defeat the drone." Within a week, the kid will be saying, "Really, Dad, I have no idea how the 'copter got hung up in the pine tree. I realy don't."

It's kinda sad. Walking my boy to and from the bus was a nice bonding experience, and I miss it.

He's so worried about the kid that he builds a drone to follow him around... but he can't be bothered to walk a quarter mile? Presuming that he's actually worried about his son's safety, what problem is the drone even going to solve? Is it going to fight of some imagined evil- a pervert, or a bear, or a mountain lion, or whatever he's worried about? Nope. Just lets the kid know dad's watching him...
It's a quarter mile. Jeeze.
... and the engineers in my family come up with much cooler stuff than this- usually involving some sort of projectile.

Give a whole 'nuther meaning to helicopter parent...

forgot to add-snicker...

I feel sorry for the kid. His father's an asshat. But the kid probably already knows this.

Next week's big news story: "Vermont youngster builds homemade RPG."

I think this is just an excuse to play...

But.

We are routinely and without fanfare, giving up things that will be forgotten in time, and you don't really realize it, till it's mostly too late.

How much money have you got in your wallet? I had an extensive convo with my tween daughter about the logic of money, and what happens when it's all electronic, and somebody decides to disappear you, or track you.

Satellites may be able to track you real time, but there aren't tons of them... but they are already preparing for a time when drones are always orbiting your area, and this guy is making it normal for his son. Or there's a camera on every corner, and in every business for "security"...

If you wanna take public trans, you need to be screened and groped for "safety"... and all of your neighbors are doing it, so why aren't you?

Paradoxically we are also learning how to contravene all these systems, because human beings are often curious... thus making these systems inherently worthless in shorter order, at least until it's a police state.

Seems like there is always a tension between pack and herd.

Herds prefer not to think about it, and will gladly give up freedom for the illusion of security. Packs also follow a leader, but they tend to consider their security within the group.

So what's the father actually teaching the son, and what does he intend to teach?

I think this is just an excuse to play...

Me, too. This seems like an opportunity to geek out. My husband wants to build a onesie with a heart monitor installed to help prevent SIDS for when the baby is born. He's oddly concerned about SIDS, but I also think he just wanted to have with Arduino.

^^ just wanted to have fun with Arduino.

ahw:"Is it going to fight of some imagined evil- a pervert, or a bear, or a mountain lion, or whatever he's worried about?"

Jeez, I hope not. The idea of a helicopter parent with an armed droned scares me almost as much as police with armed drones.

Isn't this what's known as helicopter parenting?

I'm with all of you who say this is really just an excuse for dad to play with his toys. (or maybe this is some sort of advertising for what dad does for a living?)

And it would be a real kicker if the kid figured out a way to play "hide from the drone" or "let me run its batteries down" or, the best, as RPM Daddy says - "get the drone stuck in a tree." I love it!

On the other hand; at least he is an involved parent instead of some of the other "fathers" out there, no?

A lot of people think close to 3/4 of SIDS deaths are actually homocide