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oldhippie
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With the advent of the Internet and electronic banking, what important purpose does snail mail serve?
By far, most of the mail I received when I lived in the US in recent years went straight into the garbage can. Now I have a PO Box at a UPS store
soley because so many American businesses and Government agencies require a physical address as part of their system for doing what they do.
I know it's a big jump to imagine things without the concept of a physical address for every person, but it can be imagined.
Just thought I'd throw that out there for consideration.
However, good for Mexico. The USPS does an excellent job keeping a huge and complicated system going and can certainly jump start Mexican mail.
Maybe someday there will even be street signs and numbers on each building. A necessary component.
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Bob and Susan
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"what important purpose does snail mail serve?"
it keeps "other" businesses in business...
and the economy progressing
provides a cheap source of delivery and info
the USPS also buys ALOT of stuff
cars trucks paper...etc
then its the employees $$$$
there is a mailman for every 500 houses
1 clerk for every 10 mailmen
lots of employees
that's ALOT of spendable income
a $41 roll of 100 stamps costs $1 to make
lots of profit
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oldhippie
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I don't think the USPS is a profitable business. It may break even. Didn't the US taxpayer pay for the difference in costs and money derived from
stamp sales until recent years?
True, it provides jobs, and jobs that can be performed by people with no skills.
But perhaps the need to move around pieces of paper, which is all it really does, is becoming a thing of the past.
I've spent a good part of my working hours for years, eliminating the need for paper based systems.
Just food for thought.
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
a $41 roll of 100 stamps costs $1 to make
lots of profit
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Not to mention the commemeratives, Elvis and Jesus etc., that arn't even used. They could be made without glue and it wouldn't matter. Huge profit.
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DENNIS
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If we got rid of the postal service, how would that effect on-line shopping and the economy? Seems the postal service is more vital today than ever.
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oldhippie
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
If we got rid of the postal service, how would that effect on-line shopping and the economy? Seems the postal service is more vital today than ever.
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UPS and Fedex like companies for parcel delivery.
Pieces of paper stuffed in envelopes with stamps on them don't seem to be necessary anymore.
Where to deliver the parcel could be expressed in latitude and longitude considering the universal and accurate GPS systems.
Perhaps establish parcel pickup stations at grocery stores or something along those lines.
Just thinking out loud.
[Edited on 8-17-2007 by oldhippie]
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Al G
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I was wondering when we would get to this part...
I can see in the near future when the USPS tax burden will be lifted from our backs...it was necessary, but as generations pass...and the people die
who did not adopt new technolgy...the digital age will replace all non skilled workers. Mexico needs improve their systems...that is true. Copying a
"make job" system would only set them back. We are and will have a very difficult time supporting all the displaced unskilled workers of the
USPS...why should the Mexicans go down this difficult road to no whereville I
think oldHippie is right about GPS...it would work even for emergency services too. Online deliveries will/should be private enterprise...The day is
coming...
Albert G
Remember, if you haven\'t got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart, then you are just a sour old fart!....
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no trade-in value.
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oldhippie
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The USPS is certainly headed towards eliminating street addresses and using geodetic coordinates. There are 10s of millions 9 digit zip codes in the
US and they can be fairly accurately expressed in lat/long.
Chances are, that in the US, if you simply addressed an envelope with only the 9 digit zip, it would get to the correct building. Of course high
density populations decrease that chance.
The problem is that the system is one big kludge so that backward compatibilty can be maintained. It's a huge database lookup. There is no
mathematical relationship between zip and lat/long. At least I've never seen one.
Starting with a clean piece of paper, which is essentially what Mexico is doing, no one would dream up the system the US has in place. It's derived
from the pony express.
The USPS knows this. If done right, there's a good chance Mexico can come up with a system equal or superior in service for less money.
[Edited on 8-17-2007 by oldhippie]
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MrBillM
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Elitist Thinking
Being egocentric is a common human trait and it is never more in evidence than some of the views expressed here.
It is an established FACT that a high percentage of people in the United States Do Not conduct their business on the Internet. The elitist view here
seems to be that, since YOU do, everyone else should have to. Not a very Democratic view.
Maintaining the Postal System is a Constitutional obligation of the Federal government.
As to the BS view (Bob and Susan), I HAVE dealt with a variety of U.S. Rural post offices, including contractors, and have never had a complaint. The
worst of them were better than San Felipe. I can't speak to other Mexican Post Offices.
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toneart
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Today I received the following in my mailbox, at my curb:
2 packages from AMAZON.com (USPS is their preferred carrier).
It would seem that expediency, reliability and experience comparing optional carriers colors their decision to use USPS.
1 letter with clippings from an elderly woman who doesn't use the internet.
1 letter from my bank regarding a charge I disputed.
The bank has my email address, but this letter is a hard copy document that may later become a legal document.
1 check I had written to a plumbing company that I decided not to use. The check was a deposit on a big job; amount of check $456.00. I had only
canceled the job and requested the return of the check yesterday. I had had no prior experience with this company and was nervous that they would
possibly play games with this check. I would say one day service was a welcome relief.
1 L.L. Bean catalog.
All of this was delivered promptly to my curb in a rural mountain area.
Am I happy >>>>>>>>
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Don Alley
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| Quote: | Originally posted by toneart
2 packages from AMAZON.com (USPS is their preferred carrier).
It would seem that expediency, reliability and experience comparing optional carriers colors their decision to use USPS.
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I get Amazon.com packages in Montana...they use UPS here.
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BMG
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We've had an internet mail order business
for 10 years now. We started our company in 1981 and did some mail order early on but the internet really changed things. As for shipping, we use
FedEx Ground, FedEx Express, USPS Priority Mail and First Class Mail. The Post Office does a great job. FedEx does a pretty good job.
My father-in-law lives in Sonora on the mainland. Sending him a letter by mail is a 50/50 proposition. Sending him a package by mail is more like
90/10 against him ever getting it. We'll see how things are in Baja when we move down there later this year, but I'm not expecting much.
People may not write letters like they used to and many businesses use the internet to communicate with their customers more and more, but the Post
Office is still a needed service. I can't tell you how much I prefer a real Christmas card over an email card.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Bob and Susan
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oldhippie..."I don't think the USPS is a profitable business" 
let's see...roll of stamps $41...cost $1= PROFIT
the congress pass bills that require the USPS to pay out of their "profit"
this way the burden of the costs of runing the country can be hidden from the public...kinda
oldhippie..."The USPS is certainly headed towards eliminating street addresses and using geodetic coordinates"
NO WAY
it took years of data to develope the zip+ four sortation system
there are NO plans to change it
also the 911 system is based on the address system in the states and that barely works
MrBillM... i thought you "knew everything" sorry
nightmares in the USPS occur EVERYDAY
the "normal joe" just never hears about it
when you hear about the 1929 letter being found somrwhere there's a reason...
the USPS wants a new building or new equipment or money allocated to "clean" the old stuff
the USPS is ONLY around to support the economy...thats it
the letter fron grandma is gone
the christmas card volume is 1/8 of what it was in the past
soon the USPS will ONLY deliver packages and advertisments
the day is comming...
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BigWooo
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I only have one experience with Mexico' mail system and it worked pretty good:
A while back, maybe the mid 90's, I was curious about a development in Panama. I didn't want them bugging me so in the online info form I gave my
address as Domocilio Conocido, San Juanico, BCS..
Over a year later a friend of mine in San Juanico relayed information to us that there was important mail for me in the Delegado's office. By now I'd
completely forgotten about the Panama thing and couldn't for the life of me figure out who would have sent me an "important" package in Mexico. We
spent the next few months in anticipation until we could visit again.
When we finally went to the Delegado to get our package, he had been personally holding it in his desk for about 5 months. It was a big color
brochure, on the cover it said: "Important Document, bla bla bla...Hurry only 5 units left!"
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BMG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1776
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| Quote: | thats it
the letter fron grandma is gone
the christmas card volume is 1/8 of what it was in the past
soon the USPS will ONLY deliver packages and advertisments
the day is comming... |
Maybe the day is coming when when the USPS will only deliver packages and ads but I doubt it. Here are the latest figures I could find in billions of
dollars for the USPS per year:
1st Class Mail - $37B
Business Adv - $19.9B
Expedited Mail - $6B
Publications - $2.2B
Package Service - $2.3B
International - $1.8B
Not sure where the 1/8 drop in Christmas card volume figure comes from. According to figures I find, the average American household received 29 cards
in 1984. This average dropped to 20 cards in 2004. Did that average drop to 4 in 2006?
I think Mexico desperately needs a postal system that works.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Loboron
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My wife is in the process of selling a home in Lazaro Card##as, MX.
The last of the documnets were mailed "Registered" to my wife here in Ensenada. The documents took 3 and half weeks to get here. She had to check the
main post office daily, as they were not going to the house since she had to sign for them at the Post office.
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