POSTIN lets you know when you've got snail mail
posted July 22nd 2005 4:33AM
We've used a lot of tools to notify us when we've got new e-mail
— everything from toolbar notifier apps to cellphone and smartphone-based mail programs — but the POSTIN, a new device
available now in Germany, has got to be a first: it's a portable receiver that notifies you when you've got new
snail mail. Designed for city-dwellers, it signals you when an LED on its transmitter detects new mail in your
mailbox. That way, if you're waiting for that paycheck to arrive, you can, say, hang at the local until your POSTIN
beeps, instead of running down 5 flights of stairs every few minutes to check the mail. Unfortunately, it can't tell
the difference between an envelope containing a fat check and one bearing yet another unsolicited credit-card
solicitation, so you may still end up making some extra trips to the mailbox.
[Via I4U News]
Great but why is it so f'kin' big?
nice nice, does it come with a package upgrade?
Wow I don't know how many times I have said I want to invent something like this now that someone has beat me to it...I want it I want it so bad.
Seems kinda useful because I live in apartments. My mailbox is like 300 feet away (but probabalby the range isn't large enough)
I ordered one...hope it works!
RadioShack had this for years, but discontinuted it about a year ago (didn't look as slick though). My dad is still using it. The downside to theirs was that you had to line your mailbox with ducttape to keep the light out. Hopefully it isn't the same with this one...
it's probably more useful for PO boxes
My parents have a similar device that I bought for them about 2 years ago out of some catalog. It's triggered when the mailbox door is opened and sends a signal to the unit inside the house. It beeps about every 5-10 minutes until you push a button to reset it.
Ok, but where's the WiFi enabled receiver that sends you an email?
This would be so cool for your summer house etc, where you just don't pass by the mailbox every day...
Not to be a prick, but checks were done away with in Germany a few years ago. Now everything is account transfers or internet. Sort of a pain in the butt, because you can't say, "the check's in the mail," but most things are direct deposit/withdrawl, so at least there is less paperwork to do.
(This, by the way, is also a mixed blessing. Especially when Telecom (T-not-so-mobile) is robbing you blind, with a very small paper trail.)
"it can’t tell the difference between an envelope containing a fat check and one bearing yet another unsolicited credit-card solicitation, so you may still end up making some extra trips to the mailbox"
How many times a day do YOU get mail delivered?
The implication was that if it was a credit card solicition you'd just leave it there.