Great post! Regardless of your views on patents, if the USPO is going to be handing sham patents like this one out, far better to have it in your own possession than a competitor!
The actual on-time performance (about 94%) of the post office on first-class overnight delivery can be found here:
http://www.usps.gov/news/press/99/99083new.htm
These are their own stats, and they don't reveal methodology, so I'll assume that these are best case statistics based on flexible interpretations of on-time.
While I think they way the USPS has hounded private mailbox companies is symptomatic of the way that any legally-enforced monopoly will act; I would have to agree that their advertising ("What's Your Priority"), emphasis on results and targetting profitable sub-segments of delivery, like $3 Priority Mail, have been very impressive for a gov't monopolist.
What boggles me is why the Postmaster General doesn't execute a leveraged buy-out of the USPS. They'd have to lose the monopoly, but with the existing infrastructure of physical assets distributed throughout the country, their "footprint" is really impressive. As a private entity, the USPS would have much more flexibility (OK, and competition) and leeway in its behavior. Also, the top guys could get really rich if they were successful -- always nice to have incentives aligned.
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Great post! Regardless of your views on patents, if the USPO is going to be handing sham patents like this one out, far better to have it in your own possession than a competitor!
The actual on-time performance (about 94%) of the post office on first-class overnight delivery can be found here:
http://www.usps.gov/news/press/99/99083new.htm
These are their own stats, and they don't reveal methodology, so I'll assume that these are best case statistics based on flexible interpretations of on-time.
While I think they way the USPS has hounded private mailbox companies is symptomatic of the way that any legally-enforced monopoly will act; I would have to agree that their advertising ("What's Your Priority"), emphasis on results and targetting profitable sub-segments of delivery, like $3 Priority Mail, have been very impressive for a gov't monopolist.
What boggles me is why the Postmaster General doesn't execute a leveraged buy-out of the USPS. They'd have to lose the monopoly, but with the existing infrastructure of physical assets distributed throughout the country, their "footprint" is really impressive. As a private entity, the USPS would have much more flexibility (OK, and competition) and leeway in its behavior. Also, the top guys could get really rich if they were successful -- always nice to have incentives aligned.