Snail Mail: Why the interest still?

[SnipErlite]

Snail mail? Is that actually what it's called?

Damn. What happened to mail, or the Postal service.

Meh. Well I occasionally use letters, but digital communications are a lot easier....

 

[Vrach]

...

Hehe, never had to deal with that thanks to the awesome doctor-genes from my grandfather - shit handwriting means emails are not just easier on me, they're easier on the other person as well

 

[Living Contradiction]

..in the case of a letter, your words are what matters. To ascribe importance on any other aspect of it is frivolous and stupid...

Not really, no, Thaius. We adjust our content depending on our audience but the medium we choose has just as strong an impact as the content.

Consider the valentine. Make the content a simple sentence, "Will you be mine, oh sweet one?", and change the way it's sent.

Email: The sentence arrives in an inbox, unadorned and plain, at eleven o'clock at night just before the receiver goes to bed, making the receiver wonder just how serious the sender is being.

Mail: The sentence arrives in a card, signed by the sender, sealed with a kiss. The receiver gets choked up and puts the card in a place of prominence, to remember such a gift.

Phone: The sentence arrives in low, husky tones, making the receiver shiver with excitement and ask about the possibility of sex with the sender.

Stone: The sentence arrives attached to a rock through the receiver's window, punctuated by screeching tires, leaving the receiver confused, appalled, and more than a little frightened.


Words have meaning, yes, but how they are communicated can change that meaning dramatically.

 

[RanD00M]

What the hell is "snail mail"?
You crazy kids with your silly names for stuff.

 

[Worgen]

well snail mail has a few thing over email..mainly security and trustworthiness

ehh its easier for someone to reach into your mail box and take whats in there then your email account... well a lil easier

 

[Arkzism]

well snail mail has a few thing over email..mainly security and trustworthiness

ehh its easier for someone to reach into your mail box and take whats in there then your email account... well a lil easier

well true but most modern neighborhoods have locked mailboxes, and plus looking at someone elses mail is a federal offense.. at least in the states. as for email its matter of privacy can change especially if your using a company email

 

[Rarhnor]

It's more personal when it's an actual letter.

 

[Crossborder]

Well you can't email a severed hand or anthrax...

This post belongs in one of those ''/B/. Full of normal people.'' images!

''Snail Mail'' might not be as efficient as Email, but in my case I get so much email and spam, that when for example when I passed my exams, one of them saying ''good job'' or something isn't going to make me smile. But when I go through the mail and find one then, hand written and showing someone took the time to write a letter to congratulate me, that makes me smile.
(And probably write back too!)

 

[PoliceBox63]

well snail mail has a few thing over email..mainly security and trustworthiness

ehh its easier for someone to reach into your mail box and take whats in there then your email account... well a lil easier

What kind of mailbox do you have! With mine, at least, no human could get post out of it.

 

[Reverend Del]

I like the regular mail. It shows a human touch. You could have set up something to write your emails for you, an electronic gizmo doodad thingy, if you want something to write your mail, chances are you'll be paying someone human to write it. I prefer the local ruffians, offer them free beer and they'll write anything.

On a more serious note though: It's the human touch. Regardless if it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, it matters to me.

 

[crudus]

There is more personalization with snail mail. It means someone took the time to write the letter, fold it, put it in an envelope, and take it to a mail box.

 

[Lineoutt]

Its more official and formal because it shows more effort and it can be more fun to receive/send a physical object.

 

[Nwabudike Morgan]

Because opening the mailbox to see you've gotten a letter is pretty great.

 

[nicholaxxx]

because you can't send physical matter via the internet.

 

[Thaius]

..in the case of a letter, your words are what matters. To ascribe importance on any other aspect of it is frivolous and stupid...

Not really, no, Thaius. We adjust our content depending on our audience but the medium we choose has just as strong an impact as the content.

Consider the valentine. Make the content a simple sentence, "Will you be mine, oh sweet one?", and change the way it's sent.

Email: The sentence arrives in an inbox, unadorned and plain, at eleven o'clock at night just before the receiver goes to bed, making the receiver wonder just how serious the sender is being.

Mail: The sentence arrives in a card, signed by the sender, sealed with a kiss. The receiver gets choked up and puts the card in a place of prominence, to remember such a gift.

Phone: The sentence arrives in low, husky tones, making the receiver shiver with excitement and ask about the possibility of sex with the sender.

Stone: The sentence arrives attached to a rock through the receiver's window, punctuated by screeching tires, leaving the receiver confused, appalled, and more than a little frightened.


Words have meaning, yes, but how they are communicated can change that meaning dramatically.

I suppose my statement was a bit too all-inclusive. Of course I didn't mean to include things like a rock thrown through the window, that's just ridiculous. And I suppose I should have noted that I was specifically referring to written things, not phone calls: that changes not only the way it was received, but the entire medium in which it was experienced.

So let me re-state my point. When it comes to textual communication of simple nature, words matter much more than the medium. Of course, on special days like Valentine's Day, when gifts are being exchanged and such, an email or text message is inherently far too simple, since it cannot come with whatever gift is being given (unless, I suppose, the gift is a downloadable video game or something, in which case I suppose this weakness is avoided by email). When it comes to simple communication via text, without expectation of any more complex interaction (gifts, face-to-face, etc.), the words are what matters.

In the case of letters vs. emails, the words "I love you" mean the exact same thing in either medium. Yes, the letter is more treasured, but that is only because of the cultural flaw I'm pointing out: there is no real reason the words on that letter should mean anything more or less than the same words on an email. Signed and sealed with a kiss means nothing, really; there is no actual received kiss and no actual physical interaction. The sender may as well have kissed his computer screen and traced over the text with his finger and it would have the same effect: that is to say, none at all. Of course, most people do find significance in this (which is why I went along with it for my girlfriend's sake), but it is simply because of this cultural standard: there is no actual reason why handwriting should hold any more significance than typed words.

 

[GrinningManiac]

I'd love to use letters, because it'd stop the stupid texting

You know those texts, where you send something, and they reply with "OK"

You couldn't do that in a letter (without realising how stupid it is)

 

[megalomania]

I love Real Snail Mail [http://www.realsnailmail.net/]

Beats posting a letter any day!

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

I use it because that's where my games come from.

 

[Living Contradiction]

-snip-

-snip-

...when it comes to textual communication of simple nature, words matter much more than the medium...when it comes to simple communication via text, without expectation of any more complex interaction (gifts, face-to-face, etc.), the words are what matters.

On that, I agree entirely. If all you are doing is communicating information and there is no expectation of deeper context or meaning beyond the text provided, words are all you need. In that instance, email trumps a letter by being faster, easier to obtain, and harder to lose.

However, I do not agree with this...

...there is no real reason the words on (a) letter should mean anything more or less than the same words on an email. Signed and sealed with a kiss means nothing, really; there is no actual received kiss and no actual physical interaction. The sender may as well have kissed his computer screen and traced over the text with his finger and it would have the same effect: that is to say, none at all. Of course, most people do find significance in this (which is why I went along with it for my girlfriend's sake), but it is simply because of this cultural standard: there is no actual reason why handwriting should hold any more significance than typed words.

Visual communication doesn't just confine itself to words, Thaius. It's the reason greeting cards have made the jump into email, complete with fuzzy bears and glowing hearts. Even the text itself can have greater meaning just by changing the font used to communicate.

For instance, if I write in boldface font, I've just drawn the attention of my audience to a certain passage and granted greater significance to those particular words. The words themselves haven't changed but their meaning has. Similarly, if I WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND DO SO FOR A SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF TIME, people will wonder, "Why is this man shouting?" I haven't uttered a single breath, yet I'm shouting, demanding greater attention for my text.

Finally no, sealing a letter with a kiss has no actual physical interaction between the sender and the recipient. However, it implies the following from the sender: If I could reach you, I would kiss you. Kissing a computer screen does not leave any significant change on the text because nobody except the sender can see it and divine its meaning.

Could the same message be written at the end of an email though? Yes. Would the written words have the same impact as a kiss on the outside of an envelope? Perhaps. It depends on whether or not the recipient is willing to attach meaning to something other than text and, as you have proven, not everyone does so.

 

[Good morning blues]

Getting letters is awesome and fun. If you don't see that, you just don't know what fun is, I guess.