Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
Instantaneous and continuous delivery tracking is a product of the internet age. While it can be a convenient service, the additional information creates other problems.
Some of us remember filing out a printed order form, placing it in an envelope along with a check or money order and mailing that envelope. Typically, the envelope would be addressed by hand and a stamp affixed prior to mailing.
You then waited for your item(s) to arrive. You did not know when the payment arrived, you did not know when your order shipped, and you didn’t know where your order was as it traveled to you.
The enormous amount of computing power and instantaneous data delivery provided by the internet age has created some incredible products, including package tracking.
Bar codes on packages identify the package and its destination. Every place where that bar code is read can establish the package’s location at a particular time. That information coupled with some customer access to that information allows the customer to instantly learn where his/her package was at several points in its journey. But that knowledge also spoils us tremendously.
The saying that ignorance is bliss has a lot of truth to it. 35 years ago, you were happy when your goods arrived and the unknown status of your order during its travels was simply the norm.
Some of us remember filing out a printed order form, placing it in an envelope along with a check or money order and mailing that envelope. Typically, the envelope would be addressed by hand and a stamp affixed prior to mailing.
You then waited for your item(s) to arrive. You did not know when the payment arrived, you did not know when your order shipped, and you didn’t know where your order was as it traveled to you.
The enormous amount of computing power and instantaneous data delivery provided by the internet age has created some incredible products, including package tracking.
Bar codes on packages identify the package and its destination. Every place where that bar code is read can establish the package’s location at a particular time. That information coupled with some customer access to that information allows the customer to instantly learn where his/her package was at several points in its journey. But that knowledge also spoils us tremendously.
The saying that ignorance is bliss has a lot of truth to it. 35 years ago, you were happy when your goods arrived and the unknown status of your order during its travels was simply the norm.
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