> In contrast to that, I don't have to pay a monthly fee to have a physical mailbox at my door Sure you do: it's either rent or city taxes. The fact that the m

> In contrast to that, I don't have to pay a monthly fee to have a physical mailbox at my door Sure you do: it's either rent or city taxes. The fact that the mailbox comes bundled shouldn't blind you to the reality that you (1) do pay for it, and (2) many people lose access to that address due to inability to keep paying, and it heavily harms them. An email address is comparatively way more easy to maintain, even with the occasional Gmail account closure (which are rare).