I guess the nomenclature battle is lost. To me, a drone is a UAV, the key word being "autonomous". RC quadcopters and the like are "remotely operated". I suppose even the military's Predator is RO, though from a great distance. A drone ought to have some decision-making capability of its own.
I wish we'd preserve the distinction, because we're very close to having consumer-grade autonomous technology to add on to RC vehicles (regardless of how many wheels or rotors they have). C.f. 3DR's Pixhawk, with features like return-to-home and "follow-me".
I used to agree but I'm actually coming around. The distinction between having a pilot inside the craft and not is very discrete (not drone vs. drone) whereas the degree of autonomy is a continuous spectrum.
How many craft can one operator control remotely at the same time before they each become individual drones?
I wish we'd preserve the distinction, because we're very close to having consumer-grade autonomous technology to add on to RC vehicles (regardless of how many wheels or rotors they have). C.f. 3DR's Pixhawk, with features like return-to-home and "follow-me".