tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post1067283304965498159..comments2024-03-21T10:12:22.611-04:00Comments on Courier, Express, and Postal Observer: The End of the MonopolyAlan Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18015201735147037122noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-64735625871912623312009-09-25T15:10:19.299-04:002009-09-25T15:10:19.299-04:00The reason people are going to online magazine/new...The reason people are going to online magazine/newspaper reading is because it is free...in most instances. The only way those publications can do that is because they are still selling enough paper copies to pay their bills. Not a single one of them has ever made any significant money off of the adds they sell one their webpages. Whenever they can no longer sell enough paper copies to make ends meet, they will have no choice but to start charging for online reading. When that happens, those same people who are reading those publications for free now, will be crying like little babies. "You stole my freebie, waaahhh."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-89790786663051319402009-09-25T09:53:44.464-04:002009-09-25T09:53:44.464-04:00Faulty assumption Alan. Besides, chances are the U...Faulty assumption Alan. Besides, chances are the USPS is going to deliver that UPS stuff anyway, like we currently do. My town has both the "mini papers" and the Vlassis, and both are doing just fine.<br />I say your assumption is faulty because if it is business we never had to begin with, how can it be considered being taken away? That's like a grocery coupon for a product you weren't going to buy anyway. How much did you actually save by not buying it? Probably a lot more than the coupon was worth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-77434306814216373942009-09-25T09:33:58.274-04:002009-09-25T09:33:58.274-04:00I have to respectfully disagree. If UPS is deliv...I have to respectfully disagree. If UPS is delivering advertising that could be delivered by the Postal Service, than it is taking business away. The Postal Service's Standard Regular service could provide the same service that UPS does to the same addresses on the same day.<br /><br />With regards to electronic delivery, every customer who chooses a non-postal means of paying a bill, receiving the content of a magazine, or receive a statement chooses a competitive option for that communication. If a customer pays Barons for access, he makes the choice to buy an on-line service and not buy a postal delivered service. If that is not competition, I don't know what is.<br /><br />Yes the Postal Service has a monopoly. But as I said in the blog post, if the only people who have no choice are those who do not have a computer or internet access, then the monopoly has little power.Alan Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18015201735147037122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-563539329592161652.post-55744822886989419232009-09-25T09:23:18.161-04:002009-09-25T09:23:18.161-04:00Now I'll explain to you what I had to explain ...Now I'll explain to you what I had to explain to my postal colleagues. UPS is not taking any business away from USPS. This may be clever marketing, but the premium offers in the little boxes are from retailers who already ship via UPS. Further, they are being delivered with parcels the customer has ordered and is expecting. The offers are being targeted to customers with significant amounts of "discretionary income". The Postal Service could do this too if anyone at HQ had a fresh idea or vision toward such marketing. As for the "mini-papers," I've seen them come and go. They work some places and not others. The USPS has a monopoly on Universal Coverage and always will because nobody else wants to, or can, do it. As for periodicals going all-online, maybe, but we are not at 100 percent saturation for computers. Newspapers and periodicals are both hurting and folding; some publishers now are thinking of having people pay for electronic access. Guess advertising isn't helping much. Nuff said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com