Outbox vs. USPS: How the Post Office Killed Digital Mail

Inside Sources .com ^ | April 28, 2014 | Derek Khanna

[Utilizer]

Yet another shining example of why governmental agencies serve We The People so well. (/sarc)

More info on the details at site, but the article was a bit long to post here. Essentially, if you manage to create something that challenges a governmental agency (or a union contributor to them) in any way, be prepared to have someone with deep pockets backing up your effort or you will not be allowed to proceed.

Kind of like MS and Lotus123, I think.

[null and void]

DOS isn’t done until Lotus won’t run!

[DesertRhino]

“Digital is a fad. It will only work in Europe.”

Anything I can say here, can only fail to express,,,,

[wideawake]

The article makes a good point that should be emphasized: the USPS is a wealth transfer from the public to a select group of bulk mailers.

[nascarnation]

Given the astounding number of catalogs we receive on a daily basis, I actually believe it might be possible to heat the house all winter long if we had a suitable combustion system.

[Utilizer]

*laugh* Lotus was far ahead of it’s time. MS bought them out, then sat on them while promoting their own product with far less capabilities and allowed the Lotus offering to die away.

[meatloaf]

It’s already been done.

[Pontiac]

Given the astounding number of catalogs we receive on a daily basis, I actually believe it might be possible to heat the house all winter long if we had a suitable combustion system.

Convert them to pellets and get a pellet burner.

[SES1066]

Article should have a time-line but I didn’t see one. US Postmaster General Donahoe took office on October 25, 2010 and is a 35 year veteran of the USPS. So our Crony Capitalism and Tech-savy Obama Administration prefers to allow business as usual with a dying model. Surprise!

[Utilizer]

No worries. I can add a couple of things. That comment could only come from someone totally clue-less about the state of technology as it stands (the "digital is a fad" remark), let alone how it is evolving more and more as time goes by. Using Europe as a bolstering point only stresses what an idiot the commentator is, since most of Europe is being Balkanized to the point of extinction in the name of Political Correctness and The Need To Not Offend Islam.

The Postal Service was created to provide for the citizenry of this country a necessary service, and the fact that they are failing to do so so badly is only magnified by the fact that persons such as this are the ones in charge at this point.

[redgolum]

Flawed reasoning. The customers of the Post Office are those who pay the postage,not those who receive the letters. These two would have done better going after the revenue side.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Utilizer.

When Evan and Will got called in to meet with the Postmaster General they were joined by the USPS’s General Counsel and Chief of Digital Strategy. But instead, Evan recounts that US Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe “looked at us” and said “we have a misunderstanding. ‘You disrupt my service and we will never work with you.’” Further, “‘You mentioned making the service better for our customers; but the American citizens aren’t our customers—about 400 junk mailers are our customers. Your service hurts our ability to serve those customers.”’

[Utilizer]

Unfortunately, there currently exist no way to stamp a "return to sender" notice on junk mail to stop them from continually sending you their offerings, otherwise their own mailboxes would be overflowing beyond all reason as of years ago. How the Postal Service devolved from being the standard we could all rely upon to being nothing more than the money-losing means to stuffing immediately-trashed pieces of paper to countless individuals without let is something I have much difficulty understanding.

From the famous Pony Express, to this. *sigh*.

[ken5050]

That’s the funniest thing I’ve read this month...LOL!!

[Bigg Red]

Given the astounding number of catalogs we receive....

&&&
I have found that calling the companies will make them stop sending the catalogues. Well, for a time, anyway. Then you need to call again....

[Chickensoup]

Watched a Postal Employee behind the desk argue for 15 minutes with a customer about a 90 cent issue. It was miserable and the employee was tacky. For 90 cents the employee made about 20 people into post office enemies. No customer service skills there.

I am a daily PO visitor and most of the employees are average to good in customer service, but they are hamstrung with rules and have no discretion.

[Utilizer]

Given the astounding number of catalogs we receive on a daily basis, I actually believe it might be possible to heat the house all winter long if we had a suitable combustion system.

Funny you should mention that. I live in a very tiny community, and there are roughly six very tall wastebaskets placed inside the local post-office location, which are always filled to the brim whenever I happen to chance by. Mind you, this is INCLUDING the fact that quite a few people I know go by on a regular basis just to grab as much of the tossed mailings as they can to use in their fireplaces and woodstoves, so I can only imagine what a relief it would be to the USPS if its employees never had to process all that wasted material in the first place.

And where are all the tree-huggers on this matter, now that it's so obvious?

[Dr. Sivana]

*laugh* Lotus was far ahead of it’s time. MS bought them out, then sat on them while promoting their own product with far less capabilities and allowed the Lotus offering to die away.

Not quite. IBM bought them out for Lotus Notes, and just didn't know what to do with Lotus SmartSuite. Lotus was hurt more by Borland, Mosaic and Paperback Software up until Windows 3.1 and especially 95 came out.

[Pontiac]

It’s likely news to the American people, but the Post Office apparently doesn’t consider you to be its customers.

If figured it out years ago when I found out that Federal Law requires property owners to have a mailbox on your property regardless if you receive your personal mail elsewhere or not.

Even though you must purchase and install the mailbox yourself the mailbox is the property of the US Mail Service. There are also a plethora of regulations on the placement, dimensions and materials required for a mailbox.

As to who the customers of the USPS are; one need only closely review who sends you a given weeks mail.

But I should mention two not so obvious USPS customers. That would be the the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association. These two unions though not technically customers have a vested interest in the USPS status quo. And given that there is a feedback loop of money from congress to these unions’ members and back to congressional campaign funds I see them as customers.

[Utilizer]

Just makes My point. If you are not making a campaign contribution, or not a Union representative, then the USPS is not interested in your opinion(s).

This from an agency that was specifically created to benefit all of us, not merely the select few.