[stretchwithme]

earthclassmail.com is what they should look at. Many things don't need to be delivered. The post office could actually let people see images of mass mailings before they are even printed or let people print them themselves with no delivery.

In other words, where electronic mail won't work, USPS could handle parts of the delivery that make sense and how its done shouldn't matter.

As far as delivery 6 days a week, I think most people could get by with delivery 2 or 3 times a week.

Delivery of commercial could be scheduled to arrive just before delivery days so they could avoid storing too much mail.

USPS or private equivalents could also accept and store electronic bills for you as a trusted third party so you can access them as long as needed. It could certify that bills have actually been paid.

There are a lot of things that could be done to leverage its "official" position. But to do so, it actually must become technically competent. At the moment, it cannot even put the mail into the right box consistently at my house.

[jessriedel]

> The post office could actually let people see images of mass mailings before they are even printed or let people print them themselves with no delivery.

This makes as much sense as removing commercials from TV shows because people can now go to the network website and watch the commercials there. The problem isn't "how do we continue to provide junk mail cheaply?" it's "how do we continue to provide regular mail cheaply without being subsidized by junk mail?"

[stretchwithme]

Are you sure junk mail is subsidizing regular mail? This article seems to indicate quite the opposite.

"Of particular concern has been the decline in the lucrative first-class mail, largely consisting of personal letters and cards, bills and payments and similar items. First-class mail volume fell 6.6 percent in 2010, 8.6 percent in 2009, and 4.8 percent in 2008. Traditionally, this mail has produced more than half of total revenue.

Volume for standard mail – advertising and similar business items – improved somewhat, indicating some signs of economic recovery, but generates less income."

From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/post-office-lost-bi...

[simonsarris]

> Many things don't need to be delivered. The post office could actually let people see images of mass mailings before they are even printed or let people print them themselves with no delivery.

How curious, I imagine this is how people described fax machines in the early 70's...

[jeffreyg]

not everyone had a fax machine in their house and pocket, though.

[jessriedel]

Most people do not have a smart phone, nor are most people capable of paying all their bills online.

[ugh]

Yet.

[stretchwithme]

So we should wait until the last person that still needs physical delivery before making any changes.

That's the problem with enforced monopolies. If we had many competing companies, some can move into the future unrestricted. And those who don't want to change, other companies could continue to charge more for less value. Unlike now, where it takes an act of Congress to change the delivery schedule.