Whither the Post Office?

REF: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/business/29postal.html

The Post Office is a venerable institution, once indispensable. It was conceived and put forward by Ben Franklin, as you probably know. For many years their motto, "If it was good enough for Ben Franklin, it's good enough for us," served them well. Unfortunately, like so many US institutions, they brought irrelevance upon themselves. When they should have been paying attention, they were looking out the window wondering, "Is it Friday yet?"

It isn't that they totally ignored technology. Over the years, whenever an opportunity came along to automate, they took it. Most of these opportunities were presented by Pitney Bowes. I worked on the development of the first of these machines, the Facer/Canceller, jokingly called by the designers the "High Speed Shredder." Many jobs were permanently replaced by automation. Through attrition, many post office employees were replaced by temps, as well. As usual, employee wages and benefits were seen as "the cause of all our problems."

I know some of this story because I helped develop the machines. I know other parts of the story because my mother was retired from the Post Office.

They showed what they were made of when UPS and Fedex came on the scene: straw. Instead of competing with them, they willingly handed over the lucrative package delivery market. At this time, the Internet wasn't even a player. They said, "So what! We are still the only ones allowed to sell stamps!"

Now, they publicly admit that their primary function is to deliver junk mail to your house. And the shit doesn't even have stamps on it, much less a time/date stamp. They blame their $7B deficit on everyone and everything but themselves. Where did the pride go?

I think you will still be able to buy a stamp, and drop a paper letter in the mailbox, for quite a while. I expect it will become really expensive, though, and the mailbox may be far away..