I think you'd have to have nerves of steel as a company to try either of those maneuvers. The wind can be unpredictable so close to a structure, it is a cramped environment filled with objects and materials you can't predict, even a meal for 2 can be kindof bulky (doubly so bc it has to be packed well enough to be airworthy), the load might shift internally, and if you screw up there's a good chance a drone goes plummeting 20 stories down onto a crowded sidewalk.

Alright hear me out, a drone "cannon" that shoots the food onto the balcony. It's perfect for covering that last distance. Works best for food packaged in discrete boxes. ;)

Uber yeets

Oh ha ha ha. Funniest post in weeks.

How are they going to get the right apartment, and even if they do, what if the food gets fumbled in the handover and someone is injured by falling meals?

DJI has those smart docking stations.

Maybe eventually each apartment will have one or it'll be subsidized by delivery platforms.

Food slides? Smart waiters? Hook and cook? And a large orange drink?

Pneumatic tubes

But only for burritos. Pizza's not quite as resilient.

I'm disappointed society hasn't revisited pneumatic tube networks since we got good at packet switching and RFIDs and computing in general.

They're still used pretty heavily in hospitals and they do take advantage of newer technology like RFID for routing.

Separately, there's a very cool startup called Pipedream that does autonomous underground delivery robots that are kind of the next iteration of the concept.

"We add a $70 surcharge to each delivery for the ballistic parachute system that protects people on the sidewalk from fumbled delivery handovers. This surcharge is refunded when the intact and unused parachute system is returned via the drone from your next delivery."

How do you shoot that used delivery parachute back to the drone upon next delivery?

This reminds me of The Fifth Element. The restaurant should fly to my balcony and serve me there.