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> Seeing you reminisce about something that I see almost daily is a weird culture shock How about: i legitimately thought that the pneumatic tube system i saw

> Seeing you reminisce about something that I see almost daily is a weird culture shock How about: i legitimately thought that the pneumatic tube system i saw in Futurama where Hermes saves the day was a made up thing (or otherwise not commercially used or deployed outside of some sort of lab setting) until i came across this submission? I feel so silly right now.

bombcar 3y ago
Costco used to use them in the stores to send money to the main cashier, Home Depot might have had them too. Or you can get food! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHZLKFblKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHZLKFblKo
- sandworm101 3y ago
  Yes, back when it was actually costco. Everything changed after the merger. I dont think i saw any pneumatics afterwards.
MikeTheGreat 3y ago
Someone else posted this recently and features both XKCD and supportive, positive thoughts. Enjoy! https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
pests 3y ago
This is lovely hah. To be honest though the bank systems are extremely primitive with short runs so I never considered them on par or in the same class with the "industrial" pneumatic systems seen in heist movies or spanning entire buildings with complicated runs.
- ghaff 3y ago
  (Probably literally) tons of paper used to be shuffled around office buildings. My first (mechanical) engineering job basically everything was typed (by a secretary) in triplicate(?) with a copy sent off to central filing. If you started a new project, one of the first things you did was head to central filing to take a look for related paperwork. We didn't have a pneumatic system but we did have internal mail delivered multiple times a day. There was even a trope back then of people starting their careers "in the mail room."
  - bombcar 3y ago
    You see that in Monsters Inc and the sequel - they started off in the mail room. Most people think of the mail room as where incoming mail is sorted by the company, but the vast majority of it was often sorting internal mail, because mail from "outside" usually went to accounts receivable or accounts payable. But inter-office communication was huge, before it was all emailed away.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      People did get a lot of trade magazines and other random stuff too. I didn't have work email at alll in my first job. And it was internal only at my next one until quite a few years later. Conversely, if someone sent me physical mail at work today, I'd have to make special arrangements to even get it. If it were a package I assume/hope receiving would send me an email. Otherwise, I assume they just toss it given I haven't seen anything from them in years.
    - WorldMaker 3y ago
      It's also a trope explored in The Hudsucker Proxy and Elf for a wider variety of movies to watch. Both I believe reference that the Empire State Building in New York has (had?) a pneumatic inter-floor (inter-office) mail system. I don't recall if it still operates and I don't know if either or both filmed in the actual ESB mail room or not. (Also if you want a videogame that plays with the trope, Grim Fandango has a fascinating pneumatic tube mail room and it factors into some of the puzzles. I believe it is also indirectly referencing the Empire State Building.)

bombcar 3y ago

Costco used to use them in the stores to send money to the main cashier, Home Depot might have had them too. Or you can get food! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHZLKFblKo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHZLKFblKo

sandworm101 3y ago
Yes, back when it was actually costco. Everything changed after the merger. I dont think i saw any pneumatics afterwards.

MikeTheGreat 3y ago

Someone else posted this recently and features both XKCD and supportive, positive thoughts. Enjoy! https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/

pests 3y ago

This is lovely hah. To be honest though the bank systems are extremely primitive with short runs so I never considered them on par or in the same class with the "industrial" pneumatic systems seen in heist movies or spanning entire buildings with complicated runs.

ghaff 3y ago
(Probably literally) tons of paper used to be shuffled around office buildings. My first (mechanical) engineering job basically everything was typed (by a secretary) in triplicate(?) with a copy sent off to central filing. If you started a new project, one of the first things you did was head to central filing to take a look for related paperwork. We didn't have a pneumatic system but we did have internal mail delivered multiple times a day. There was even a trope back then of people starting their careers "in the mail room."
- bombcar 3y ago
  You see that in Monsters Inc and the sequel - they started off in the mail room. Most people think of the mail room as where incoming mail is sorted by the company, but the vast majority of it was often sorting internal mail, because mail from "outside" usually went to accounts receivable or accounts payable. But inter-office communication was huge, before it was all emailed away.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    People did get a lot of trade magazines and other random stuff too. I didn't have work email at alll in my first job. And it was internal only at my next one until quite a few years later. Conversely, if someone sent me physical mail at work today, I'd have to make special arrangements to even get it. If it were a package I assume/hope receiving would send me an email. Otherwise, I assume they just toss it given I haven't seen anything from them in years.
  - WorldMaker 3y ago
    It's also a trope explored in The Hudsucker Proxy and Elf for a wider variety of movies to watch. Both I believe reference that the Empire State Building in New York has (had?) a pneumatic inter-floor (inter-office) mail system. I don't recall if it still operates and I don't know if either or both filmed in the actual ESB mail room or not. (Also if you want a videogame that plays with the trope, Grim Fandango has a fascinating pneumatic tube mail room and it factors into some of the puzzles. I believe it is also indirectly referencing the Empire State Building.)