5 ms·

The real WTF is... why can't mail die? I'm not objecting to packages, etc. But why do people still send me letters? If the IRS, employers, clients, etc., mov

The real WTF is... why can't mail die? I'm not objecting to packages, etc. But why do people still send me letters? If the IRS, employers, clients, etc., moved to fax I'd be happy. Fax has been around for 30-40 years and for some reason I keep mailing letters to people.

potatolicious 17y ago
Extension of that... why can't I have a permanent address? Why can't I have something that, when provided to USPS, FedEx, UPS, whatever, resolves to wherever I'm currently living? Every time I move I have to change a million different addresses with a million different people, invariably forgetting some along the way. My email address never changes - why can't my physical address be like it.
- stanleydrew 17y ago
  I think it's even weirder that for so long I couldn't get a permanent phone number (thanks Google Voice!). I mean the phone network is pretty much the same as a computer network. They figured out how to automate the switching, but the phone companies never took the next step to automate the directory lookup and number resolution process. I've often wondered why there isn't something like dns for phone numbers. Probably because of myriad spam/trust/security issues. Those issues may be similar to the ones keeping physical addresses from making the leap too.
- derefr 17y ago
  There is no "global mail infrastructure" to support a symbolic address—the meaning of an address is legally defined by the city/state/country it is sent to. You could have an address that would stay constant as you moved around a city (and they have them: P.O. Boxes), but when you moved to a different country, you'd end up playing by someone else's rules. It's like asking every country to standardize on what they print/stamp on their currency.
  - nradov 17y ago
    I don't care about global, within the US would be sufficient. The USPS could do it if they cared to try.

potatolicious 17y ago

Extension of that... why can't I have a permanent address? Why can't I have something that, when provided to USPS, FedEx, UPS, whatever, resolves to wherever I'm currently living? Every time I move I have to change a million different addresses with a million different people, invariably forgetting some along the way. My email address never changes - why can't my physical address be like it.

stanleydrew 17y ago
I think it's even weirder that for so long I couldn't get a permanent phone number (thanks Google Voice!). I mean the phone network is pretty much the same as a computer network. They figured out how to automate the switching, but the phone companies never took the next step to automate the directory lookup and number resolution process. I've often wondered why there isn't something like dns for phone numbers. Probably because of myriad spam/trust/security issues. Those issues may be similar to the ones keeping physical addresses from making the leap too.
derefr 17y ago
There is no "global mail infrastructure" to support a symbolic address—the meaning of an address is legally defined by the city/state/country it is sent to. You could have an address that would stay constant as you moved around a city (and they have them: P.O. Boxes), but when you moved to a different country, you'd end up playing by someone else's rules. It's like asking every country to standardize on what they print/stamp on their currency.
- nradov 17y ago
  I don't care about global, within the US would be sufficient. The USPS could do it if they cared to try.