Thank you very much for this post - the research, writing, and personal touch. The idea of pneumatic tubes has long been floating in my consciousness, but it's extremely useful to see some numbers run, as you've done here. And after the brief overview you've provided, I doubt very much that the future of Rohrpost is in its past.
That the application of Rohrpost is apparently niche, I will admit. Hospitals are closed systems, generally consisting of only a few buildings, with great need for rapid internal transportation of small parcels. But there must be similar circumstances where it could be useful. Consider (for example) an industrial complex sending materials floor to floor, or even simply an apartment building. It might be possible to completely obviate the need for something like grocery shopping if goods could be ordered online and then picked up at a Rohrpost station on your floor.
And frankly this kind of limited Rohrpost seems far, far superior to either regular shopping or drone deliveries for promoting healthy human living. With most purchases in the 20th century taking place at the market or mall, the assumption was (at least in the Anglosphere) that everyone drove, with negligible personal exertion. Drones today are even worse. With a drone, a person naturally asks why the delivery can't be direct, and then sits there, obese and inactive, waiting for their parcel. But with Rohrpost bringing things to a pickup location at the far side of your dorms, or at the corner of the nearest block, you have a reason to get up and move. Maybe, just maybe, you'll even say hi to someone along the way there.
Thank you very much for this post - the research, writing, and personal touch. The idea of pneumatic tubes has long been floating in my consciousness, but it's extremely useful to see some numbers run, as you've done here. And after the brief overview you've provided, I doubt very much that the future of Rohrpost is in its past.
That the application of Rohrpost is apparently niche, I will admit. Hospitals are closed systems, generally consisting of only a few buildings, with great need for rapid internal transportation of small parcels. But there must be similar circumstances where it could be useful. Consider (for example) an industrial complex sending materials floor to floor, or even simply an apartment building. It might be possible to completely obviate the need for something like grocery shopping if goods could be ordered online and then picked up at a Rohrpost station on your floor.
And frankly this kind of limited Rohrpost seems far, far superior to either regular shopping or drone deliveries for promoting healthy human living. With most purchases in the 20th century taking place at the market or mall, the assumption was (at least in the Anglosphere) that everyone drove, with negligible personal exertion. Drones today are even worse. With a drone, a person naturally asks why the delivery can't be direct, and then sits there, obese and inactive, waiting for their parcel. But with Rohrpost bringing things to a pickup location at the far side of your dorms, or at the corner of the nearest block, you have a reason to get up and move. Maybe, just maybe, you'll even say hi to someone along the way there.