Realty Bytes

There’s a little publicized provision in US Postal Service rules that can protect you from your own stupidity. It gives you the chance to recall letters you sent, by accident or impulse.

You have to act fast, of course, because you can’t recall something that’s already been delivered.

I’ve never seen the Postal Service advertise this option. And none of the people I asked in an unscientific, informal survey knew they could recall something they’d mailed.

So riddle me this: At a time when the volume of First-Class mail is falling-and the Postal Service claims it needs junk mail to survive-why isn’t the Right to Recall the focus of a nationwide ad campaign? It’s the single most significant advantage postal mail has over e-mail. Continue reading ‘You’ve Got Mail–Maybe’

I once considered early adopters of technology more sophisticated than the average person. But now I think they’re just tech obsessed…or, in the case of Apple enthusiasts, people with unusually large supplies of disposable income.

After my experience with betamax, MiniDiscs, LaserDiscs, recordable DVD players and other so-called next big things, I’ve grown cautious with new technologies.  

I’ve never had time for patience. But I don’t have the money to be impulsive anymore.

Continue reading ‘More Money Than Sense’

I fell in love with digital everything when I realized the technology reduced the clutter on my desk. With everything from documents to photos in digital formats, I can store my files neatly and easily in the random reaches of cyberspace.

As a Virgo of German ancestry, educated by nuns in Roman Catholic schools, I have triple the obsession with order as the average person.

Continue reading ‘You Just Can’t Win’

RFID tags tags may someday allow us to breeze in and out of retail stores. But for now we have what’s left of our privacy, and the pleasure of confronting The Checkout Lane.

Retail technology is like real estate on a movie set. It looks impressive, but it’s not.

Continue reading ‘Why is This Line So Long?’