It’s Time. To Look Back…..

As the new year approaches, it’s a good time to look back at predictions and see where we are today. But how about looking waaaaay back….to a 1983 prediction by MCI that email would eliminate the need for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), a branch of the government (then called U.S. Post Office) established in 1775 by Ben Franklin.

It was 1983 that MCI introduced its version of email called MCI Mail. The prediction of making the USPS obsolete seemed a bit far-fetched at first, and actually for a while afterward. After all, there’s nothing like the thrill of walking out to the mailbox and retrieving a real letter or, on a good day, a check made out to you.

But here we are at the end of 2011 and times have changed, and now the USPS is undergoing massive cuts just to keep functioning. What remains to be seen is if the USPS can maintain its viability and afford to continue operating.

I, for one, enjoy getting a “hard copy” of a birthday or Christmas card from a friend or relative. Wonder if there are any others like me out there?

Don Rountree