Monday, May 14, 2007

Keep me posted!


Today the US postage stamp price is going up...again! A domestic letter will now cost 41 cents, letters to Europe 90 cents.

Honestly, I do not begrudge the Post Office this tiny 2 cent increase. I am very happy with the prompt and friendly service they provide, especially compared to the postal experiences I had in foreign countries!

I am just questioning the futility of it all. In the words of Postmaster General, John Potter himself: " Even with the higher prices, the agency expects a deficit this year as it struggles to compete in a swiftly changing communications market."

What's to become of "snail-mail"?

23 comments:

pusa said...

nice photo... yeah what will ever happen to the |"snail mail"?

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Kinda sad, isn't it!!! and i too am guilty of not writing letters ...i love post offices and all that they come with .....reminded moi of the Australia post ad:
http://www.adpunch.org/entry/australia-post-if-you-really-want-to-touch-some-one-send-them-a-letter/

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

http://www.adpunch.org/entry/australia-
post-if-you-really-want-to-touch-some
-one-send-them-a-letter/

Olivier said...

je note, maintenant je vais devoir payer 90cts pour envoyer mes cartes postales. belle photo, pour parler de ce sujet. Si cela peut sauver le service de la poste.


I note, now I will have to pay 90cts to send my postcards. beautiful photograph, to speak about this subject. If that can save the postal service.

Linda said...

It is much more expensive here in France to mail anything. When the postage costs more than the gift you are sending, it is rather discouraging. Maybe most people are using the Internet now, not snail mail. I'm sure the post office will figure it all out.

Nikon said...

I suppose the cost of fuel could be part of it.

Anonymous said...

love the shot!
the future? merge with UPS, Fedex?
we still use it once a month to send docs. to the boss

Peter said...

My French experience is unfortunatley that often it works perfectly, but not always. If you want a guarantee of next day delivery you must pay a big extra. Private alternatives exist, but again you have to pay. "It is not as it used to be." Fortunately we have e-mails and blogging and...

Z said...

The Swiss postal service is expensive, but they're definitely in the black. They diversified themselves, now one can buy iPods and mobile phones, books, little travel accessories, a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated items at the post office branches. Apparently, that's been working for them.

Dsole said...

great shot! I love it!
About the mail... I think we're going to lose it because of the e-mail. It's cheaper and faster, even less personally.
Uhm.. that would be sad uh?

Anonymous said...

I agree with your sentiments. My wife just purchased the new 41 cent stamps and was told that as long as she buys this stamp no matter how many price increases there might be in the future the price on this line of stamps will stay at 41 cents. You have to ask the post office about this as my wife had to ask.

I have never figured out why the post office got into trouble in the first place. They had a monopoly on delivering packages and letters and what we call junk mail and had it from the beginning. Then along come UPS and agrees to a different strategy -- going to the place and picking up the parcel or letter or whatever. And they became very successful and prompted more to follow their lead and all of this has taken away the work the USPS once did for Americans.

They also give some hefty retirements to employees. That and health insurance costs them dearly.

I wanted to thank you for your visits to my blog. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

There is a famous "collectors" stamp (Inverted Jenny) that has an airplane just like your photo. The collectors' value comes from the printng error where the plane was printed upside down. (http://stamps.about.com/od/famousrarities/p/Jenny_Invert.htm)
Maybe they used an Australian Artist :-)
Ok maybe not, but the printing press operator was confused to say the least.

alice said...

54 cts (euros) in France...

Jilly said...

Everything goes up. C'est la vie. As to why the Post Office can't make itself pay, I haven't a clue. Anyway it's worth the discussion for your beautiful - truly amazing actually - photograph.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Your photo is superb, Isabella.


I am responding to your suggestion and keeping you posted. In Sydney today you are my featured guest. I hope you come and see why!

Deb said...

I can't imagine life without snail mail, but someday it will probably happen. Packages will still have to be delivered some way or another, but letters (huh?) and bills will all be online.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting on the Twin Cities Blogfest! The only Nepotism involved was Sophie choosing between the pony, the puppy, the duck and the kitty!

Janet said...

I still have a few 29-cent and 32-cent stamps. Think I'll just save them as antiques!
Very nice photo of the plane against the clouds, and oh yes, I wonder if snailmail will eventually go the way of the Pony Express. I hope not, because I really like getting letters, not ads or bills but old-fashioned, hand-written letters.

JAM said...

I don't mind the price going up very much, I just put on an old stamp and a whole bunch of one cent stamps to make up for the increase.

I would think that snail mail will be around, computers were supposed to lessen paperwork but increased it exponentially. Some things can't be faxed.

Plus, nothing like getting a hand written letter from a friend or family member.

angela said...

Beautifully appropriate photo...I used to do business on ebay...now it's far too expensive :(
Angela

Kate said...

Except for junk mail, snail mail is on its way out. Too bad; I still love to post and receive mail that doesn't come from a computer. Writing letters is becoming a lost art, which is very unfortunate for the literati!

Anonymous said...

One of my dreaded tasks is sorting the mail. This is partly because there is rarely anything personal, just bills and junk. AL is talking about the "forever stamp." You can buy it now at 41 cents and use it forever, even if the cost of stamps goes up. I think other countries have done this.

Unknown said...

how much is it to post to Singapore?

hehe.. you can help the postal service survive by posting a snail mail to me ;-)

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