Walking my dog this morning I found the post box near the shop “out of service”. That’s fine, there’s loads of others nearby, probably some efficiency savings RM can make. What bothered me is the notice that there’s a notice saying “automated system coming soon”. How can you automate the process of Doris dropping her Christmas cards in the local postbox for someone to collect and deliver it for her? It’s genuinely bent my brain and I’m thinking of all the ways the postal service could be enshittified in the near future.

by jurwell

36 comments

  1. I dont think this will be the worst thing ever maybe a bit pointless. They are the so called postboxes of the future.

    Gonna have a solar panel on top with section for pre labeled parcels which need scanning before dropping off. We are getting one in our village and as someone who sells on ebay a lot I’m expecting them to be very useful

  3. It loses the letters automatically, without any human input at all.

    Truly a remarkable age we live in.

  4. The new boxes have a solar panel on the roof and a QR code reader on them so you can drop parcels etc off which have pre-paid labels rather than having to do that in a post office (with their erratic opening hours)

  5. The one round the corner from me hasn’t worked since it was converted. The solar panel doesn’t appear to give it enough power to actually turn on and let you scan the code on your parcel.

  6. It’s being made easier and simpler for little old Dorris and here small doggy “Ziggy”.

    All she needs to do is get on the latest version of Android or iOS on her device then download the app (notifications must be enabled for functionality and important hourly offers and updates) and create an account. Don’t worry about your security Dorris, there’s 2FA so you’ll need to have access to your email too! She’ll be able to buy her stamps on the app too! Saving her so much time!

    Once she’s bought a smart phone, download an app, logged in, authenticated and managed the process of buying a digital stamp, she’ll be able to scan her QR code at the post box and place her letter through the briefly open slot that’ll relieve her of her hand if she hesitates.

    Think of the time and money she’ll save! More time to spend with Ziggy.

  8. Well think about it this way.

    Does dropping letters and parcels into a box magically enter their details into a computer system?

    Nah, some postie gotta do that.

    So it’ll probably do that automatically

  11. it’ll thank you for the letter you’ve dropped into it

  12. I crochet and am in a Facebook group for postbox toppers. The amount of uproar in that group because they can no longer put a topper on these due to the solar panel is hilarious. And there’s been some rather bizarre suggestions about still decorating them but leaving the solar panel clear, so I’m looking forward to seeing some postboxes wearing headbands soon.

    And apparently, ‘nobody will use them’. I spent 25 minutes of my lunch break the other week stood in a queue in the post office. When I got to the front, it took all of 20 seconds for the lady to scan my parcel and give me the proof of postage receipt. If one of these postboxes was near me, I’d absolutely have used it.

  13. Royal mail – “Great news, we’ve reinvented the email”

  14. Have these round by me. There’s a box to scan a QR code and drop off small parcels. Only problem I see so far is the QR scanner gets condensation inside and isn’t able to scan so pretty useless tbh

  15. I’ve lost a couple letters in the post or small in size eBay listings. To combat this, I would just video the item being dropped into the box and it was good enough.

  16. I wouldn’t be too fussed about the same things happening to our local postboxes, except why do it at the one time of the year when we all have to send cards to appease elderly relatives who will be offended if they don’t get one? Surely this is the worst time to do it.

  17. The problem for me is the label side of things, I’m sure quite a lot of us don’t have a printer anymore?

  19. Had a leaflet through the door the other day. There are going to be solar panels on top and new slots/a drawer for parcel drop offs.

  20. £1.80 a stamp and you think it needs more enshitification?

  21. great idea, I worry if royalmail has capacity to procure reliable and maintainable system for this, everything will depend on that, and since they don’t seem to have experience in running these things, I don’t have high hopes.

    mayeb they can partner with amazon or other delivery drop location companies.

  23. Well its actually not automated at all, its entirely manual. So that’s how I guess

  24. The parcel lockers are excellent. You can send your eBay orders 24/7. Will allow much more people to start selling on the side, its a nice side hustle selling reselling.

  25. They had a great automated post box in Royston Vesey 20 summers ago.

  26. Carries your letter to the post office via underground passage

  27. They’re building a complex network of tunnels under the postboxes that take your post directly to the sorting centre without the need for old-fashioned, manual collection. Truly a remarkable age we live in.

  30. It’s going to have a shredder right inside the box to save the trouble of actually losing your letter

  32. I’ll be really disappointed if it isn’t like on The League of Gentlemen when the postbox says “thank you for posting a letter inside of me”, and it just turns out to be a young lad working a shift as a postbox voiceover.

  33. I’m curious how well the solar power will work in Scotland. I’ve got solar powered spotlights/security lights in the garden and they only work from April to August.

  34. Thank you for clarifying what this was about. My Mum was complaining about her “local post box going digital” and I didn’t have a clue what she meant.

  35. They have changed it on our nearest post box. It looks much more useful.

  36. Why oh Why did they do this on the run upto xmas? madness

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