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Dustin Curtis's new web app

snail.dustincurtis.com

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Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#81

Post by percept »

jeremymcanally wrote: post #17
dcurtis wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a beagleboard (beagleboard.org) sitting around in my closet, so I figured I should do something with it. When you create a letter on Snail, the beagleboard pulls from the heroku database, formats the letter, prints it, and then sends me an email saying it's ready to be stuffed into an envelope. (Well... sort of. In a perfect world, that is what would happen. Unfortunately, there are some bugs that I am still tr…

You should invest in a cheap trifold folder and an envelope/postage printer (or envelope tray for your existing, presumably laser, printer). That would cut down your operations time a lot if it gets popular. Though, I think big, sooo probably not worth the cash.

I've always wondered what Netflix does. Is their DVD handling/mailing a manual process?

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#82

Post by axod »

zaidf wrote: post #37

I wish I could mail myself a note on a certain date. Would be cool to receive a one year old note from myself next year.

Could be a real market for that...

"Ensure you receive at least ONE brithday card, by sending it youself! By the time your birthday comes round you'll have forgotten you sent it, and will be pleasantly surprised."

Also things like sending letters a year on, with a reminder of what you hoped to achieve that year etc.

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#83

Post by WesleyJohnson »

axod wrote: post #82
zaidf wrote: post #37

I wish I could mail myself a note on a certain date. Would be cool to receive a one year old note from myself next year.

Could be a real market for that... "Ensure you receive at least ONE brithday card, by sending it youself! By the time your birthday comes round you'll have forgotten you sent it, and will be pleasantly surprised." Also things like sending letters a year on, with a reminder of what you hoped to achieve that year etc.

I was thinking along the same lines. There are already services for sending emails into the future (futureme.org is one), but I think being able to do it with actual mail is a clever idea.

One commercial use might be for real estate agents sending letters to new homeowners 1/2 months into the future asking them how they're doing, etc. I think that would seem a bit more personal than just an email. I always enjoy it when I start receiving mail at a new residence!

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#86

Post by diN0bot »

mrduncan wrote: post #44
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #25

There's a bunch of these services out there, but here's a couple that may be interesting: http://www.postful.com/ http://www.l-mail.com/ Both look pretty clean and offer various capabilities to send lots of letters more efficiently, including an API.

Compared to Dustin's though, both of those hurt my eyes to look at. This reminds me of Posterous, blogging is a crowded market but they differentiated themselves by being beautiful and dead simple. Competitors are good, it just proves that there's a market for a service like this.

beauty and pain are in the eye of the beholder...

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#87

Post by Everest »

A couple thoughts 1). I usually love Dustin's work but am acutally underwhelmed by the design. I hate the black on white. It hurts my eyes 2.) Snail mail is meaningful becasue it shows that the person took time to WRITE and then send a letter. Its not nearly as meaningful if its typed up.

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#88

Post by philwelch »

notaddicted wrote: post #45

Somebody has to say it: In the year 2009 snail mail is grossly inadequate. 1. Does it prove anything? No. Sign something with a private key, that is proof. 2. Is it better for record keeping? No. Fires, floods, and rot are all enemies. Storing it digital allows one to replicate a lifetime of mail in 10 seconds. 3. Aesthetic? Only if you have a strong packrat or nesting instinct. 4. Cheaper? No. Not by a fucking longs…

Snail mail does take more effort, though. Which directly leads to the following things:

1. Politicians receiving mail from their constituents will take a snail mail more seriously than email.

2. Love letters seem more meaningful when received via snail mail.

It also leads indirectly to the fact that there's no spam filter for snail mail to get stuck in. Not because there's no spam in snail mail, but because the amount of spam is reasonable. 95% of email is spam, which is manageable for the user because of spam filters, but false positives in spam filters make snail mail actually a bit more reliable for the average recipient.

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#89

Post by mkyc »

Everest wrote: post #87

A couple thoughts 1). I usually love Dustin's work but am acutally underwhelmed by the design. I hate the black on white. It hurts my eyes 2.) Snail mail is meaningful becasue it shows that the person took time to WRITE and then send a letter. Its not nearly as meaningful if its typed up.

Dear downvoters,

In this community, we don't vote based on whether or not we agree. We vote up if we think it is worth reading, regardless of whether we agree or not. We downvote when the message is inappropriate - flames and trolls, cheap humor, that sort of thing. I don't go to the comments to see who agrees with me, I go there to see who disagrees, and why.

Sincerely,

mkyc

Re: Dustin Curtis's new web app

#90

Post by techiferous »

mkyc wrote: post #89
Everest wrote: post #87

A couple thoughts 1). I usually love Dustin's work but am acutally underwhelmed by the design. I hate the black on white. It hurts my eyes 2.) Snail mail is meaningful becasue it shows that the person took time to WRITE and then send a letter. Its not nearly as meaningful if its typed up.

Dear downvoters, In this community, we don't vote based on whether or not we agree. We vote up if we think it is worth reading, regardless of whether we agree or not. We downvote when the message is inappropriate - flames and trolls, cheap humor, that sort of thing. I don't go to the comments to see who agrees with me, I go there to see who disagrees, and why. Sincerely, mkyc

Upvoted because I agree with you.
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