MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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The Postal Service’s 30-Year Relationship with Email
By EmmaZahn on Fri, 09/20/2013 - 12:11pm |
The federal government, a key innovator in the early years of computing, knew at least 30 years ago that email was going to disrupt the United States Postal Service (USPS).
In a 1982 report, “Implications of Electronic Mail and Message Systems for the U.S. Postal Service,” the now-defunct Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) examined the electronic messaging marketplace and made recommendations for Congress and the USPS. The report stated the following:
Changes are taking place so fast in the so-called “communications revolution” that by the time USPS actually experienced significant reductions in conventional mail volume, most opportunities for participation in [electronic mail and message systems] would have passed and it would be much more difficult to adjust.It seems clear that two-thirds or more of the mainstream could be handled electronically, and that the volume of mail is likely to peak in the next 10 years and fall below today’s level sometime in the 1990’s.
The prediction was accurate, but the timeline wasn’t. As the chart below illustrates, mail volume in 2012 was actually higher than in 1982 and First Class mail volume peaked in 2001 (although total mail volume peaked in 2006).
URL:
http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/09/postal-services-30-year-relationship-email
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