When I got into drone flying back in 2014 you grabbed a drone, charged it up, and went for a fly.

Then in 2016 I got hired to fly a drone for a movie I was working on. I had to get permits to fly, I had to get a license, I had to tag my drone my operator number.

In 2018 I rented out my drone to another production because I could not make the dates they needed me to fly. They destroyed my drone and my backup drone, I took the insurance money and bought a better drone. I have yet to fly it because there is much more paperwork involved to fly it.

As of a few years ago your done must broadcast your registration number. Mine is too old for that so I need a separate transponder module.

Speaking for myself, but I think it might apply to others too.

I just have no use for a drone, it is cool tech (which I like) but I have no interest in photography or anything else you can do with drones

Because those drones are still rather expensive and... useless? I personally can't imagine what fun (let alone useful) I could do with a drone. I suppose a few first flies would be fun just for the sake of flying, but what next?

Because they are expensive, stupid, and annoying and most people think they are obnoxious. I'd be embarassed to every fly a drone in public with how noisy and invasive they are, I'd feel like a total asshole.

Unless you're using it for a specific purpose (surveying, content creation, videography) they're still a niche product that most average consumers have never come into contact with, except in stuff they watch, so naturally they'll be curious.

Don't let what the internet tells you about people influence your expectations without first testing them in the real world. Life depicted online is not an accurate representation.

Can only speak for myself, but they are a huge invasion of privacy. I know it’s a drop of water in a bucket with everything else hyper connected, but when I see them it’s always somewhere I’m just trying to enjoy something peacefully and even though it’s very unlikely I’m particularly being watched, it just feels like a huge privacy invasion.

Where I live, europe, while not strictly illegal is so restricted and you have to ask for so many permissions to fly a small drone that's not worth it.

People wanting to fly one would just go to some remote place on the countryside where no one would see you.

Even when something is fairly inexpensive and readily available, the nature of the thing may preclude it from being well-noticed in public, even if it's not being intentionally obscured at all. Things that move are an especially good example, because most people don't really pay significant attention to passing traffic or stuff moving approximately 3-5x faster than their own walking pace, with the exceptions of when they themselves are in motion too (eg seeing another train while riding a train), or if the object is coming straight at them.

An example suited for fellow Americans: seeing the same color and model of your car, parked in public, is very easy to spot, because that's how you're accustomed to seeing your own car: stationary. Whereas seeing your own car in motion (while you're stationary) is slightly harder because: 1) it's whizzing by for only a few seconds, and 2) you're not used to seeing your own car drive away from you. Confirmation bias then means that you rarely see that same model of car in motion.

Drones have the same perceptional bias, but compounded by the fact that humans aren't in the habit of scanning the skies overhead for drones. And even if they do, identifying a hovering drone means to spot a small dot that's hanging dozens of meters in the air, or being within earshot (inverse-square law limits this distance). And if the drone is moving, then spotting it is even more difficult, although it does have a moving audible footprint now.

Finally, there's the operator, which in almost all circumstances is stationary. Yet, for similar reasons, why should anyone notice if someone is standing in a forest, looking at a screen with a set of controls? If nobody is around, is a drone operator even there? As a fairly solitary activity, it's no surprise that few have ever seen a drone actually being operated, much the same that loads of people know of Pokemon cards and yet few have actually seen the TCG played out on a tabletop (this fediverse audience excepted).

TL;DR: the general public only perceives things that are easily perceivable. When did you last see your car moving?

You need a license to do it now. Probably just more trouble than it's worth. I'm also sure the random hype died down as well.

Here in Europe, you see signs everywhere saying drone usage is banned. Both in towns but also in nature areas. I have always been interested in one but it feels like there is no where to fly them. I don't think that's a bad decision since they are annoying and, if you don't know what your doing, you could hurt someone but I'd it does put me off actually buying one.

Not much to do with them unless you want to photograph something specific, and for photographers/videographers the quality can be a let down unless you spend like 2k+ at least, because you basically are using a flying GoPro (DJIs version, but still not exactly mind blowing photography capabilities there).

I only fly mine when I'm somewhere interesting. Typically, that would be somewhere with few people around.

I flew it for like a few months then I keep crashing it, or like have it gone too far and never been able to retrieve it... etc...

(Not a fpv, but I still fly around for fun, not really doing much photography lol)

And I kinda ran out of funds for this hobby...

I still have a DJI Mini... something (3 or 4 idk) that's still fuctional I think... but nah, don't feel like it...

the novelty died...

I also never seen a drone irl before I got one... lol...

I sometimes didnt feel like going to the park and so I flew it in my front yard, then the kids across the street got so annoyed with me and accused me of "spying on them"... and I'm no sure if they meant it as in the "you're a creep" type of way, or like the... um...

"You're a Chinese working for the CCP spying on our country" type of way... 🤦‍♂️

This is deep blue Philly...

Now we have orange fuckface in office

DJI banned(? only applies to new ones I think? still...)

Trade war and politics stufff...

Lile I always imagined people are just very Sinophobic for some reason after the "new sheriff in town" term 2

Like I imagine white guys are just in a "red scare" mode in their brain...

Or maybe am I just paranoid and imagining things?

Paired with my depression...

Meh...

I'll just do other stuff lile writing... which I've still been procrastinating for like months... (I like to imagine myself being a writer but the not actually concenstrate enough to do it lmao)

Maybe confirmation bias plays at least some part here? If you're exposed online to YouPotatoes who extensively use drones, you're likely to think they're more common than they actually are?

My inlaws do a big 4th of July fireworks show, for many years a drone would come hover 100ft above us, recording it. We never found out who it was. Fairly creepy actually.

I have a drone and played with it a fair amount, drove it around my neighborhood, well beyond the "line of sight" requirement. I managed to hit trees several times because it doesn't have fancy avoidance features. Hard to tell from the single camera when you're rising up or backing into a tree branch.

Eventually I got bored tho. I did learn how to file flight plans, do all the things right. I live near an air force base, so there are entire sections of the city including parks where I cannot fly it.

Eventually it gets a little boring. I can't wait for my toddler to get a bit older and then he will think it's fun. For a week, and then he'll get bored.

I think, like most things in life, it's mix of underlying causes. I don't have the answers, just anecdotes.

For one: The drone thing was kind of a fad for a while. Hobbies are like that.

I know that drones have more uses than just hobby-wise, but most people I know who got drones weren't doing it for professional reasons, they just wanted a drone because it was cool and neat and new (to them). Anyway, the thing with fads and hobbies is that there will be some small group of people for whom this is or becomes a life long passion, but for most people and most hobbies, they just sort of do what's en vogue at the time, then move on to the next fad when the time comes. Nothing wrong with that, just pointing it out.

Two: Related to my first comment, for most people this is just a fad, so they aren't going to go spend premium amounts of money to get good quality equipment. The market was (and probably still is) flooded with super cheap low quality stuff that leaves a bad impression and kills the vibe as people think "drones kind of suck" or recognize that it's a pay to play (well) hobby like so many others.

Essentially, the neatness wears off and people move on to the next big thing.

Most people keep to themselves so flying a drone is not a big draw. funny thing is it should be something kept in the workshop or garage. being able to check your roof after a storm is huge. need a snake one for pipes.