Sometimes it’s a thrill to receive a real, physical piece of mail. Sometimes it’s annoying. The letterbox across the street from my house has a sign that reads “No junk mail…. or bills.”
But, the trouble with physical mail is that you have to be there to collect it. Or, if it rains, then often your snail mail becomes a mushy, pulpy mess.
Not to be confused with the offerings from Digital Post Australia (Zumbox in the U.S.) and Australia Post digital mailbox service, U.S. based startup Outbox is tackling snail mail, not by replacing it, but by digitising it. Somehow, Outbox is going to digitise the postcards you get from your Aunt Cathy on her round the world trip.
Think of a service that scans your snail mail and posts digital version of it to your inbox. Then, you can select the mail that you want to be physically sent to your house once a week.
Is this a good idea or, is it going to go the way of Webvan (lots of hype but never delivered, pun intended?) The Austin, Texas based startup raised $2.2 million a little over a year ago and, is now operating its service across the U.S.
Outbox
Intro to Outbox from Outbox on Vimeo.
