May 2006 - Posts

• A Better Mail System.

  I arrived home from work to see the familiar UPS sticker plastered to my door. It noted that the package could not be delivered because a signature was required. Over the next several days this same process was repeated - like most people I'm not home during the day. In the end, my package ends up stuck at an office till I have it redirected to my office or pick it up at their office.     This process and similar situations is oftentimes repeated. Similar examples include the dropping off of packages outside one's door in a neighborhood where the kind-will of all who pass by is not above reproach. Or perhaps the situation where one is constantly bombarded by former resident's mail that continues to arrive at your door over a period of weeks, months, and sometimes years. And don't forget the situations in which an individual moves, forgets  to update their mailing address, and has a bill sent to a crediting agency that hunts them down with high fees and great damage to their credit score.     Isn't there a way to avoid this? I think there just might be. I was reading an article on Wikipedia about email authentication which noted the difficulties that email forwarders can raise. The author noted that forwarders allow one to keep one address even over a number of different vocation/location switches. This was when I asked myself, "Couldn't the postal mail do the same thing?"     Think about it. What if your address was a unique identifier that remained with you your entire life. Perhaps something like ID #A558328587. Its not the friendliest address, but it is a steady address. You would report to a centralized computing system (or by mail if you didn't use a computer) your latest address. Thus when that bill collector sends a letter to A558328587, even though you moved from New York to California, that message still reaches you.     This solution would provide one centralized way to ensure that everyone who needed to contact you was constantly updated. Furthermore, it would allow one to hide one's true address. When I was younger I used to sell on eBay regularly, and being somewhat concerned about purchaser's knowing my home address I purchased a P.O. Box where I had all the checks sent to. Having the number A558328587 would provide the same sort of privacy.     Finally, one could have multiple addresses on file and specify under which conditions certain forms of mail should be sent to certain addresses. Thus if one had a home address and a work address you could specify that you wanted your mail sent to A558328587-A (home) or A558328587-B (work). One could also set up generic rules, such as "send all packages requiring signatures to work" by using a third generic address, something like A558328587-PKG-B. Posted May 10 2006, 07:11 PM by admin with no comments