US Mail Goes Digital, Seeks to Make Junk Mail Fun

 

The United States Postal¹ Service is offering a way for people interested in seeing tomorrow’s mail today.

The postal service will send customers images of all their letters, magazines and other mail before they arrive.

The new service is called Informed Delivery. It is an attempt by the U.S. government agency to remain competitive in an ever-changing world.

Postal service officials say the increased use of email, digital messaging services and social media have made it difficult to stay relevant.

David Rupert is a media relations specialist with the postal service who spoke² about all the competition the agency now faces.

“Whether you turn on a television, or your computer, or people come to your door with different products and services, all of those are competing for the consumer’s time and energy,” he said.

Interested users are first required to sign up for Informed Delivery. The service is not available in all areas. Once registered, the consumer receives a daily email with virtual images of letters and other things to be delivered.

The U.S. Postal Service says giving people the chance to see their mail before it arrives can be useful for planning purposes. It can especially help those who have a mailbox at their local post office so they know when to go and get their mail.

Jocelyn Coatney of Los Angeles thinks Informed Delivery is a good idea.

“I think I would like that a lot, especially with checks and things coming in, and things coming in from grandkids. That would be a nice service,” she said.

Another postal offering is a service that seeks to make advertising³-related mail – often called junk mail - more fun. The service uses virtual and augmented⁴ reality to let consumers interact with their junk mail.

Many companies put special coding on their advertising. These images can be scanned with a mobile device to give users an interactive⁵ experience. Some companies even put virtual reality eyeglasses in the mail to make their ads come to life.

Consumers have mixed reactions to the virtual and augmented reality advertising. Postal service user Victor Teah said he does not consider all ads junk mail.

“You can find some good things within junk mail. It’s a good idea. We’ll see how it works out,” he said.

But Jocelyn Coatney does not think it would change her mind about junk mail. “For some, that might be fun. But for me, I wouldn’t have any use for it," she said.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

delivery – n. the act of taking something to a person or place

relevant – adj. relating to something in a useful way

customer – n. someone who purchases a product or service

consumer – n. person who buys goods and services

virtual – adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the internet

check – n. a written order informing a bank to pay an amount of money to a named person

grandkid – n. a grandchild

augmented reality – n. an enhanced version of reality using technology to add digital information on an image of something

scan – n. the act or process of using a special machine to see the inside of something

1 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 Augmented   

adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称：“科学家不会被取代；相反，他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好，这篇报导的影响更大了。

5 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。