Photo by D Sharon Pruitt
I guess I'm like most folk in not being able to resist an intriguing or slightly bizarre headline. And so yesterday, I discovered that Text Messages Are To Replace Stamps In Sweden.
Actually, it's not as crazy as it first appears. The idea is that you text the Swedish equivalent of the Royal Mail, and in reply you get sent a code which you write on the envelope in place of the stamp. The postal service computers then read the code when the letter is being processed, as they normally read a postcode.
So why is this green? Well, think of the paper and glue savings to be made from people not using stamps. Think of the time savings from not having to queue at the Post Office to buy the damn things!
Not that there are many personal letters sent these days which require stamps, but a system like this could come into it's own at Christmas. Actually, I'm surprised that we can't already print a QR code onto our envelopes before posting them in lieu of a stamp. The Royal Mail seems to be missing a trick there.
On the other hand, I can already imagine the uproar from the Daily Mail if we replace our stamps with written or printed codes. The government would weigh in, the Royal Mail would be forced to compromise, and every time we sent a letter using a code in place of the stamp, we'd all be forced to draw a picture of the Queen's head on the envelope!
2 comments:
well for those of us who, for environmental reasons, don't have mobile phones but do use the postal system this would be a pretty disastrous idea but then we are a tiny minority i imagine
I guess mobile phones are an easy way to charge you the money needed - just as easy to do it online but it would maybe take a couple of steps more.
As technology improves and we begin using technology like NFC (Near-Field Communication) to use our mobile phone to buy things like newspapers (we've had mobile-phone based train tickets for years), those without mobiles are going to be increasingly isolated by society. I'll bet you already meet people who think not having a mobile is just plain weird, when in fact having one 15 years ago if you weren't a businessman was just plain weird!
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