The New York Times had a story last week about the Swiss postal service offering a program that lets citizens subscribe and have their mail scanned and e-mailed to them instead of having it delivered the traditional way.
The Swiss Post is using a business that offers such services worldwide, but, according to the story, this is the first time the company has licensed its technology to a postal service.
This is the way it works, very basically -- instead of being delivered to your home, the outsides of the envelopes that are mailed to you are scanned (by the post office, if you live in Switzerland, or by the company you've hired, if you don't live in Switzerland) and the scans are e-mailed to you. Then, you look at the envelopes and choose from your options: having the mail recycled; shredded; opened and scanned and e-mailed to you; or delivered to you unopened.
I hadn't heard of this service before. Now, I have to wonder...are my letters really being opened and read, or are they being scanned by strangers. My Granny never had to worry about such things!
5 comments:
another way to save money my goodness I like to be able to actually touch my mail .
OH NO!!! Half the fun is the anticipation of actually opening the envelope. This is an awful idea.
Hmm. Kind of a good idea to not have to receive junk mail, but it still interferes with the fun of seeing what's in the mail today.
Today I got a letter. It made my day. Wouldn't have been quite as good if I knew it was coming...
I wouldn't feel very comfortable with people reading my mail. I also like getting the physical mail as well. Hi! I received your postcard! Thank you so much! Check out the entry for it on my blog.
I have to admit, the idea of not recieving junk mail is *really* appealing. There has to be a better way!
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