NEW: How a network of underground tunnels could one day replace DoorDash. Imagine it’s late in the evening. You’ve been debugging code for hours, need to hit a tight deadline, and have an almost pathological craving for Taco Bell (many such cases). The delivery of your Crunchwrap Supreme, however, no longer involves ludicrously expensive burrito limousines or any other version of a human-operated, three-thousand-pound vehicle trundling through the streets. You place your order and 7 minutes later your meal materializes, miraculously, in a drawer inside your apartment. What else can you receive via this magical drawer, you ask? Cups of coffee, groceries, power tools, a rented tux, and really any object you can imagine — all summoned in under 5min and for less than 25 cents, beating Amazon Prime at its own game. It sounds magical and impossible, but it’s really not. It’s actually quite simple: literally just dig tunnels underground, and fill them with small autonomous vehicles. Today in Pirate Wires, @gb_rango speaks with @pipedream_labs about their new network of “thing pipes” in Austin. Before they connect these pipes directly to new construction, they’ll partner with drone delivery companies to fly your burrito (or burger or power tool or whatever) from the pipes to your door. The long game is radical. Reduce our need for delivery trucks, reclaim our streets, and end porch piracy (finally). Eventually, we’ll get higher-quality stuff faster and cheaper. When “thing pipes” become infrastructure, people will use these systems 10, 20, 30 times a day — and objects will move beneath our feet like data. Read the full story in Pirate Wires. Link threaded 👇