Snail mail and message in bottles
When letters were still transported by stagecoach, how long did it take for a letter to reach the recipient? Of course, there is no general answer to this question, because in addition to the speed of the horses, the distance to be covered also played a role, not to mention other adversities. From a few hours to a few days to several months, there was certainly everything in the delivery time. I suspect, however, that even in the days of the so-called snail mail*, a letter would have taken several years to get from the sender to the addressee.
The message in a bottle was and is much more erratic. Who sends a message in a bottle on the way, calculates probably already that it is long time and possibly many years on the way. The sailing club, whose letter was on the way for 53 years before it reached the rightful addressees, did not throw a message in a bottle into the river or into the sea. That the letter could be delivered after such a long time borders on a miracle.
E-Mails and Co.
In office communication, things can go a little faster. E-mails and messenger services calculate with other time dimensions and bridge even huge geographical distances in a matter of seconds. But despite increasing digitization, we still can't do without good old-fashioned letter mail. This is not only due to the digital signature but this is not the right place to discuss further obstacles. Instead, we'll give you a few useful tips for when you need to send a conventional letter.
Electronic tools for conventional letters
Deutsche Post's mobile stamp, for example, is a tool that saves you a trip to the nearest post office - at least if you know how big and heavy the letter or item you are about to send is. I like the fact that you can write the code on the envelope by hand and don't have to print it out.
I also appreciate the electronic letter announcement of Deutsche Post. If you use their app or have a mail address at web.de or gmx, you can use this service for free.
In my opinion this is a good addition to the digitization service that I, as a digital nomad, have appreciated for years for my conventional mail. With the letter preview, I can see earlier what mail is waiting for me, because since the mail to be digitized is first forwarded to the digitization service, delivery takes a few days longer than if it were to land directly in my local mailbox.
In addition to the electronic letter notification, there is also an electronic letter preview. However, this is obviously still in its infancy, and my conclusion is sobering: after eight months, only one letter has reached me this way.
The change in communication will continue. We'll see which digital letter standards will become standard.
