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Trade in your Junk Mail for Spam

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the lot-easier-to-filter-the-virtual-paper dept.

QueueEhGuy writes "CNN is reporting that the Swedish Postal Service, Posten, is now offering a service where customers can choose to receive spam via a free, government run, service. Business are given the option of using this at a 25% discount from carrier delivered mail. For those of us with physical addresses, it raises an interesting question as to which one is less annoying, environmental benefits aside." Interesting step towards charging postage for email.

3 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. junk mail over spam by MarvinMouse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For a bunch of reasons, I find junk mail far more enjoyable then spam.

    1. Junk mail costs the sender totally, I don't spend a cent. While spam costs me download time, bandwidth, and a bunch more.

    2. Junk mail is tactile. When it's good, it's nice to read through a brochure or flyer. when it's bad, it's nice to feel and hear the sound of it hit the recycling bin. E-mail is just annoying all around.

    3. I enjoy receiving junk mail, it means someone actually is willing to spend money to reach me. I hate receiving spam, it means someone has stolen my e-mail from somewhere and is charging me for their advertising.

    4. Junk mail comes with coupons which are sometimes useful. At the very most, you'll have to print out the coupons received through e-mail, or only buy through online sites.

    5. Junk mail arrives once a day at a set time. Not every 5 minutes annoying me endlessly at work while I am waiting for slightly more important e-mails.

    So naturally given the option, you can see why I would prefer Junk mail via post over spam e-mail. E-mail should be reserved for correspondances and important communications that need to be received and responded to quickly. Snail mail can be used for the rest of the junk. (Plus, with all of the virii out there I get enough crap without needing to worry about junk mail.

    --
    ~ kjrose
  2. Polite Spammer by scott1853 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just got an e-mail last night from a spammer that's getting blocked by our little BSD postfix box. The very politely asked us to check on our server to make sure they weren't inadvertantly being marked as spammers.

    They went on to explain how they were only an opt-in service and proceeded to list all the mail servers from which they send spam from.

    I'll admit it was a nice gesture. It was especially nice of them to give us a complete list since we only had a couple of their boxes in the black list.

  3. Recycle Direct by Animats · · Score: 5, Funny
    What I want is Recycle Direct. The USPS already has a semi-automated system for rerouting mail using forwarding addresses. I want to be able to specify a separate forwarding address for my junk mail. Something like "Buffalo Paperboard Corporation, The Big Dumpster In Back, 470 Ohio Street, Lockport New York, USA 14094".

    Mailers should be able to tell that I've done this, just as they can now run address files through the USPS and get forwarding addresses substituted and old addresses deleted. That would be an opt-out list with teeth.