3 ms·
I agree with a lot of your thoughts, but as a counterpoint, I'm impressed by the UX of the "put my mail on hold" process at the USPS site every time I use it. I
by charliepark 14y ago
I agree with a lot of your thoughts, but as a counterpoint, I'm impressed by the UX of the "put my mail on hold" process at the USPS site every time I use it. I'm guessing there's real variance in the quality controls from office to office.
But I have no idea why the USPS doesn't offer a "we'll scan your mail before we deliver it, and you can select what you want" service, like the idea laid out here: https://tonywebster.com/2012/07/reinventing-the-united-states-postal-service/ https://tonywebster.com/2012/07/reinventing-the-united-state...
- largesse 14y agoSimple answer: they would lose money from the junk mailers. It's a sizable part of their revenue, possibly more than half.
- charliepark 14y agoThe junk mailers would still mail their advertisements. The USPS picks them up and scans them at their pickup point, or at the nearest processing facility (they already do this, to automatically shunt mail to the proper zones). Mail that I designate as "trash" via the iPhone / web app gets recycled before it actually gets shipped across the country, or, if it's already shipped, then when it next gets processed at my local processing facility. So the advertisers still pay the full rate; I just have the option of intercepting it before it makes it to my mailbox. If I don't act in time, it gets delivered, just like normal.
- PJones 14y agoI'm sure advertisers would still pay the same rates for junk mail that nobody sees, and it wouldn't reduce the value of the junk mail to those advertisers.