Physical letters used to rule the world, back when a stamp was an object of value and power. Now, Australia Post spends more time sending out eBay parcels, and physical mail is often derided as “snail mail”. How important is a physical letter to you?
[credit provider=”flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarae/3460946533/” creator=”sarae”]
I was inspired on this line of thinking by news that a US-based startup called Outbox is expanding its services in the US. Outbox collects your physical mail three times a week. Anything physical, such as that collection of Sinitta hit singles you drunkenly purchased from eBay last week, is delivered, but any straight letters are simply digitised and emailed to you. The physical letters are then shredded.
It’s an interesting concept, albeit not one without a few lingering issues. There’s the obvious security angle, although Outbox claims that everyone working for the company is subject to a background check. There’s also the issue of pickup frequency. Three times a week means there could be a couple of business days between delivery of a letter and it bouncing into your inbox.
Still, the idea is interesting. I work from a home office, and I tend to use going to the mailbox as a bit of a break period, but it’s not as though I get that many physical letters any more in any case. It should (in theory) prevent the spectre of a missing bill or document, although I do wonder as to the legal status of a digitised document if there’s some kind of data entry error.
What do you reckon? Would you use a mail digitising service like this if it launched in Australia?
Outbox Pours Salt On Snail Mail By Launching Its Digitizing Service In San Francisco [TechCrunch]
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