Spark is going to be a litigation nightmare, or an attorney's dream

[ibatman]

Depending on your perspective...This drone is going to be chopping new drone owners up left and right, and DJI marketing it to new inexperienced owners and features that involve direct contact with drone in operation...this is gong to be interesting to say the least.

Calling it now, either the drone will go on quick hiatus within a few months, or the palm modes will get dramatically "nerfed".

 

[Kestrel]

A couple issues I have with it is one the price, are first time non hobbyist yuppie types that are into themselves really going to shell out 500 dollars for the drone just to take selfies? If they do, all the gesture controls and no rear facing sensors I feel like its going to be a disaster as far as crashes go.

 

[adiru]

id pay 299 max

 

[HueJorgan]

£399 with a controller is what it's worth tops

In reality it's gonna be over £650 in the U.K. That's just bonkers

 

[Former Member]

Calling it now, either the drone will go on quick hiatus within a few months

Anything is possible, but not likely. With DJI's team of lawyers and defiant corporate officers, not to mention their cavalier attitude toward their customers, they will either win any lawsuits, or offer the victim a $50 credit toward the purchase of a "safer drone" the Mavic.

If it really became a problem, DJI would just deactivate that feature of the software. They would never pull a product off the market, like what Gopro did with the Karma, which was the responsible thing to do.

 

[Doecliff]

I agree that there will be more fly aways, crashes and accidents if the targeted consumer is people just interested in selfies. I'm sure it will be a good product, have good position hold etc. but if your not a drone person and only driven by your ego for selfies your not going to have your spark very long before you try something that you shouldn't. Plus its likely most people will not buy the controller and use the smart phone app for control. Wi Fi and an app isn't the ideal way to fly a drone.

 

[Turnerm]

If flying via wifi or hand gestures and it gets out of range... can you set it to return to home or hover like you can with the MP?

I'd imagine safety stops like these will save a lot of people...

 

[m0j0]

It will be awesome like all of DJI's recent products.

 

[cdronefly]

If flying via wifi or hand gestures and it gets out of range... can you set it to return to home or hover like you can with the MP?

I'd imagine safety stops like these will save a lot of people...

Hand gestures are only within maybe 10-20 feet at most, so I don't think you need to worry about RTH.

With Wifi you can hit RTH on your device and/or it will do so automatically as the battery lowers (which it does quickly on this model).

With Wifi, you may lose image but still have control - so RTH button is still likely to work.

 

[Robbyg]

I think the Spark will be awesome for selfies but the kind of people who will buy it and fly it just with their phones are the same kind of people who rarely think about what they are doing.

I was in a hobby store a few weeks ago and I watched as a guy insisted that a Syma X5 was tested after he purchased it.
Surprisingly they opened the box and they snapped in some batteries and the sales guy held onto it while they powered it up. The buyer turns around and says he wants to see it fly!
He really expected to fly it in the store.


Rob

 

[Mavman]

I think the spark is just meant to fill this market space - it's main competition probably the Hover Passport, also sold at Apple Stores for $499, looks much safer than the spark, but the spark is probably more drone for your buck than the Passport.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

I think the spark is just meant to fill this market space - it's main competition probably the Hover Passport, also sold at Apple Stores for $499, looks much safer than the spark, but the spark is probably more drone for your buck than the Passport.

100% agree. The Spark is surely a better value than the Passport

 

[m0j0]

The spark looks amazing. It is what it is... a drone the can be taken anywhere that is primarily used for taking close quarter photographs. If people use it the way it is intended I imagine it will be flawless. If people use it outside of it's limited purpose there will be problems. DJI actually went backwards on cam capabilities and still seem to be producing better video than the major competitors Breeze. DJI hit it out of the park again. I won't buy one. I already have a portable bird. I won't buy one because I don't think the Spark is capable enough for what I would want to do with it. However, I could see anyone who only had one of the bigger birds choosing it.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

The spark looks amazing. It is what it is... a drone the can be taken anywhere that is primarily used for taking close quarter photographs. If people use it the way it is intended I imagine it will be flawless. If people use it outside of it's limited purpose there will be problems. DJI actually went backwards on cam capabilities and still seem to be producing better video than the major competitors Breeze. DJI hit it out of the park again. I won't buy one. I already have a portable bird. I won't buy one because I don't think the Spark is capable enough for what I would want to do with it. However, I could see anyone who only had one of the bigger birds choosing it.

Well said...I too can see the P4 guys buying the Spark for portability as opposed to spending the $1K for a Mavic.

 

[mavicn00b]

Wonder what gesture youd use when you get a flyaway?