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.
According to what I have heard there are factories that use pneumatic tube systems just the way that hospitals do, moving around spare parts and critical materials quickly and securely. I could not find any well-published examples so I did not see the point in mentioning it in the article. But pneumatic tube systems are definitely alive and kicking. In niche applications at least.
Before writing this article I was more optimistic about Rohrpost systems than I am now. The potential benefits are gigantic. But the probable cost is also gigantic.
The major problem, I believe, is that modern society has lost its "civic spirit" (in lack of a better word). I simply do not think that society these days is able to muster the will and the resources to make the investments necessary for a working Rohrpost system.
I agree. That's also why I don't intend to remain within the broader society indefinitely. For a few hundred people who really do believe in physical collaboration, Rohrpost has enormous potential.
That sounds surprisingly intereting. How do you intend to leave the broader society? And how would Rohrpost be useful in a group of only a few hundred? For such a limited flock it seems more cost efficient to just use couriers.
Mmm. People don't usually follow up when I mention strange things like this. Let's just say I definitely agree that, for smaller groups, Rohrpost typically isn't that useful. Then again, a small group primarily concerned with industrial applications, like making apple pies, have good reasons to transport crab apples, sugar, and so on through their complex to the ovens for baking and processing. A good Rorhpost would have tubes large enough to send completed pies as well, but - baby steps.
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.
According to what I have heard there are factories that use pneumatic tube systems just the way that hospitals do, moving around spare parts and critical materials quickly and securely. I could not find any well-published examples so I did not see the point in mentioning it in the article. But pneumatic tube systems are definitely alive and kicking. In niche applications at least.
Before writing this article I was more optimistic about Rohrpost systems than I am now. The potential benefits are gigantic. But the probable cost is also gigantic.
The major problem, I believe, is that modern society has lost its "civic spirit" (in lack of a better word). I simply do not think that society these days is able to muster the will and the resources to make the investments necessary for a working Rohrpost system.
I agree. That's also why I don't intend to remain within the broader society indefinitely. For a few hundred people who really do believe in physical collaboration, Rohrpost has enormous potential.
That sounds surprisingly intereting. How do you intend to leave the broader society? And how would Rohrpost be useful in a group of only a few hundred? For such a limited flock it seems more cost efficient to just use couriers.
Mmm. People don't usually follow up when I mention strange things like this. Let's just say I definitely agree that, for smaller groups, Rohrpost typically isn't that useful. Then again, a small group primarily concerned with industrial applications, like making apple pies, have good reasons to transport crab apples, sugar, and so on through their complex to the ovens for baking and processing. A good Rorhpost would have tubes large enough to send completed pies as well, but - baby steps.