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Why does that sort of application need to be OS specific anyway? Couldn't it be Java or internet based?

Nov 17, 08 - 04:59 pm Comment from: ABQ Peter

@passerby:
exactly!!

You would think that some clueless idiot would has asked in the beginning, are you developing it in a programing language that can be compiled or exported to all OS that exceed say 5% of our customer base.

You think that the upcoming government medical social system will be Mac accessible too.

Mac OS X is now at about 10% of the US market share. We have to have the Spanish translation on all major government paper work. Even when we vote. Do you think that more than 10% of Americans only speak Spanish now?

In 4 years, we should let these idiots know what we think of Windows only!

Nov 17, 08 - 05:07 pm Comment from: smegdude

probably developed in .Net

Nov 17, 08 - 05:07 pm Comment from: MacintoshSoftwareList.com

And you want these people giving you health care?

The United States Postal Service, supported by taxpayers to the tune of roughly $75 billion annually

From http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm

We …
Do not receive tax dollars for operations. We are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sale of postage and products to pay expenses.

Sorry on this one, MDN.

Nov 17, 08 - 05:15 pm Comment from: An Optimist

We need procurement reform to end the Microsoft monoculture in government purchasing. The bid specifications should be vendor-neutral.

The United States Postal Service [...] offers a "USPS Shipping Assistant" which is "free" software that combines all the functions you need to create labels (domestic, international, Merchandise Return and custom forms), ship packages, compare rates, calculate estimated delivery times, verify deliveries, request free Carrier Pickup, and much more.

Other carriers (such as UPS) have offered this online for years.
And theirs is very accessible with a Mac.

Nov 17, 08 - 05:26 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

I own a dozen Macs for my business, and NEVER use the US Mail system. Pay bills electronically, and use FedX/UPS to ship.

Mutual disregard.

First of all, the USPS does offer this onlne. Got to http://www.usps.com. Mac or Windows, you can buy stamps, change your address, print postage, design & order cards, photo stamps, order shipping supplies - the list goes on. Yes - the USPS does also offer a windows only CD, which does everything you can do with a Mac online.

Second, NONE of your tax money supports this. The only tax money given the USPS is 'Revenue Forgone', a reimbursement from voted on by Congress in 1993 to make up for reduced (and free) mailing rates forced upon the USPS by Congress at the same time. Google 'Revenue Forgone USPS'.

MDN - I realize you only repeat what you hear, too bad Steve Jack didn't do the slightest bit of fact checking, or even internet searching, before writing this piece of crap.

"too bad Steve Jack didn't do the slightest bit of fact checking, or even internet searching, before writing this piece of crap."

That's why he writes for the Opinion Section of MDN, not the Fact section, or the Even Slightly Correct section.

Lets see if he has the balls to post a retraction.

Postmaster,

Besides the fact that the stamp (postage) itself could be deemed a "tax," SteveJack also explains and provides links for "federal appropriations, and even postage taxes in some states."

SteveJack seems to have done plenty of fact-checking and the USPS software should be made available for free to Mac users, too.

Nov 17, 08 - 05:54 pm Comment from: TexasAg03

Hey,

"The One" is a Mac user - maybe he can get this fixed...

@Historian

Did you at any of those links? They provide figures for USPS revenue and expenses, they also list how Congress is payign the Postal Service LESS than it owes the Postal Service for services it REQUIRES the USPS to provide. The link for postage taxes on the other hand tells the tale of STATES charging sales tax on postage. NONE of that sales tax money goes to the Postal Service, it goes to the states. Read a little would you.

As far as he price of a stamp being considered a tax, that's like saying the cost of electricity is a tax. No, it's a service - if you don't want the service, don't pay for it. Feel free to drive your check across town, or across country yourself.

If you use a Mac, and want this software, go to http://www.usps.com. All of the services available on the CD are available there - for free - not paid for by tax money.

they also list how Congress is payign the Postal Service LESS than it owes the Postal Service for services it REQUIRES the USPS to provide.

IOW, the same Congress that's already outspent their revenues by several trillion $$$, can't pay the USPS for required services?

Priceless.

Postmaster,

Good points. We can agree to disagree on whether a stamp is a tax or not. Regardless, the USPS is an independent agency of the United States government and should therefore not be excluding a significant installed base of computer users because they lack the foresight to include those who could have been easily included.

From http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2008/pr08_118.htm

The U.S. Postal Service concluded the 2008 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2007-Sept. 30, 2008) with a net loss of $2.8 billion as the national economic slowdown lowered mail volume and as the Postal Service bore additional costs mandated by the Postal Act of 2006

Hey Congress!! Time to bail out the Postal Service as well!!

We've already covered Wall Street, and are about to "rescue" Detroit. Might as well socialize the mail service too.

a form letter to forward to the representative would be helpful.

@not quite
Dig a little deeper into those 'additional costs mandated bythe Postal Act of 2006'.

Those costs require the Postal Service to pre-fund retiree health care costs. Does Congress require that of Wall Street? No. Of Detroit? No. Too bad the USPS doesn't have an even playing field like Wall Street - oh wait - I guess it didn't help them.

The Canadian postal system offers electronic shipping tools for business users. That is Windows business users. They also shut out us Mac users.

Just wait the communisation of the US is underway. Everything is in the process of being taken over by the government.

Nov 17, 08 - 07:13 pm Comment from: Hipcheck

For what it's worth, I sent a note to the USPS using their online feedback form. I'll be contacting my Congressional reps next. Here's the message I sent:

Will the USPS Shipping Assistant be available for other browsers and operating systems? Currently, the Shipping Assistant requires Microsoft's Windows 2000, 2003, XP Home or Professional, or Vista and Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 6.0, or higher.

This not only excludes users of other browsers (which are arguably better and more secure than Internet Explorer), but other common operating systems, Mac OS X in particular.

For example: today, Apple's Mac OS X comprises about 10% of the U.S. market, with a growth rate almost 30 times that of the PC/Windows market. However, the user- and taxpayer-funded USPS is requiring the purchase of products by a single software vendor: Microsoft. This is unfair and anticompetitive, and ignores both the needs of customers and the realities of the computer marketplace.

It is not an uncommon or difficult thing to develop cross-browser or cross-platform solutions. The software industry successfully deals with these issues daily. Companies with only a couple developers do it every day. There is simply no excuse why an organization the size of the USPS would be unable to offer this service in a complete and professional way.

I found the real reason... the technology uses the Microsoft .NET framework and (to a lesser extent) ActiveX. Great... they USPS is using technologies that everyone else has either abandoned or is trying to abandon. Couldn't they have used something that would work with anything, like Java, Flash, or AJAX? I smell M$ payola...

Oh, and UPS has a similar "No Macs Allowed" product in Europe called the UPS Widget. However, UPS contracted that out to a third party, and they are promising Mac support in the near future (hopefully by the time it gets to the States).

MDN MW: "designed", as in this product was designed with M$ influence

Nov 17, 08 - 07:26 pm Comment from: shen

"Besides the fact that the stamp (postage) itself could be deemed a "tax,""

umm, you are buying a service. when you ship fed ex is that a tax?

my god the dumb asses are multiplying.

Nov 17, 08 - 07:27 pm Comment from: mackle

wonder if it will run under crossover? you can do everything except first class (13 oz or less) with click-n-ship from usps.com on firefox, opera, or even safari (sometimes it just need the current acrobat reader. bulk labels are much easier to use with the ms word template for avery adhesive labels. most all the forms and non-monetary transactions can be done from usps-com.

the usps has a $3B cash/capital position from the treasury. it was an appropriation the year is was given. we taxpayers all coughed that up. it is made up at least two fold in the value/service we get in terms of mailing and delivery. as much as people like to complain about it, it is the gold standard in the world. if you look at the ling provided, it bled $5.2B in 2007, they will cut costs and raise postage to right the ship. they had made $1B and $1.6B the previous 2 years and had enough reserve to cover the one year $5.2B loss. no bail out needed. if the banks and investment/insurance companies were as transparent as the usps, we wouldn't be in this mess and the one would have had a closer contest.

move on, nothing here.

Nov 17, 08 - 07:28 pm Comment from: shen

"Good points. We can agree to disagree on whether a stamp is a tax or not."

no, we can't. not any more than we can agree to disagree on the color of the sky. one is real, the other is in your head.

moron.

Buy Windows OS, install on Mac and use BootCamp.

Nov 17, 08 - 07:52 pm Comment from: dangerfrog

Well, at least they are consistent. Their "contact us" email page does not work with Safari.

We used to use this Shipping Assistant coupled with a Pitney Bowes postage meter running under WindowsXP in VMWare Fusion in our shop for all our Postal Service shipping. The software is abysmal failure. It was riddled with bugs, half the time it wouldn't even recognize the postage meter, it would leave an instance of itself running so you couldn't relaunch it without Ending Task from the task manager. It was a disaster. We then moved to Endicia for Mac which is a gloriously simple program that works flawlessly and gives discounts over the normal USPS rates for Priority and Express Mail. Just support the companies that do value the Macintosh community. That's my stance.

Well, if you ever used Shipping Assistant, you would know that you are not missing much. It's a pretty crappy piece of software. It's .Net based, slow. buggy, no database connectivity, etc. What I would really like to see is a Mac version of UPS Worldship.

No wonder they are Billions in the red. Horrible service and love to lose your mail.

Postmaster,

Dig a little deeper into those 'additional costs mandated bythe Postal Act of 2006'.

I was criticizing Congress, not the USPS. Very difficult to compete indeed with imposed rules.

Heh I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Congress launches an investigation into the UPSP's 2008 fiscal loss. A process enabled, in part, by artificially low-cost mail service...

my god the dumb asses are multiplying.

Kinda like the town that wanted to do a Christmas play, but couldn't find three wise men or a virgin?

Nobody said multiplying required brains!

Wow, SteveJack. This is low. This is the kind of crap I see Microsoft tools writing about the Mac.

First from the "postage tax in some states link", you seem to have missed this part: "Since delivery charges refer only to charges made by the seller of goods and services, the purchase of postage directly from the U.S. Postal Service remains nontaxable."

The "postage charges" link does not have the word "postage" or "charges" anywhere in the webpage. It's just a fiscal revenue/expense report. (In which the postal service LOST over $5 billion in the fiscal year of 2007. Seems like they DIDN'T have any extra money lying around eh?)

The "federal appropriations" link lists emergency funding to biohazard attacks related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Hardly a normal circumstance.

And had you bothered to do any actual research instead of your half-assed attempt at posting a few irrelevant links, you might have found this page:

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm

Which features this fact: "We... Do not receive tax dollars for operations. We are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sale of postage and products to pay expenses."

Funny how none of that fits into your USPS bashing article. I'm as upset as you are the they don't offer a Mac software solution, but you needn't use Steve Balmer-like FUD to get your point across.

@ Historian

The US Government favoring IE and Microsoft is nothing new:

Federal Grant Applications to Require Windows

Besides that, I don't see how you can classify postage as a "tax." Are the fees UPS, Fedex, and DHL charge for their services taxes as well?

@everyone else
People who bash the post office need to go work their for a week. When you handle over 1000 pieces of mail a day (as a rural carrier. Clerks might handle over 10x more) mistakes are bound to happen. When I give you the wrong piece of mail, it is my personal fault. And one wrong piece of mail out of 1000 is a very good day indeed. I used to be the same way until I started working there. Now I know why and how mistakes happen, and I will never complain again.

Nov 17, 08 - 10:42 pm Comment from: iDon't

I did a survey and found out that 99.9% of Mac users are to smart to use the USPS.

Nov 17, 08 - 11:32 pm Comment from: dab2

@ Rural Mail Carrier

Thank you,
As a former UPS employee I agree with you completely. When you handle as many packages or letters as the handlers and carriers do, mistakes will happen. The USPS does a great job overall.


That being said, I do think that tools for the general public should be written using open standards not crap like .net or, heaven forbid, Active X.

COMMIES! The US is going to have many more problems with the democrats running things.

Nov 18, 08 - 07:38 am Comment from: BC Kelly

To NYC, directly above, and probably many others with similar misconceptions ...


The USPS was the first 'commie' thing the US Government did way back when. Was started by Ben Franklin, the first US Post Master.

The idea was to help commerce by providing a unified service across the Nation. Otherwise, good luck trying to get anything from here to there.

And, if you think it's inefficient and/or incompetent, well, try to find anyone else who'll deliver a letter from Gumpstump, Alaska to Middle of Nowhere, Kansas for $0.43 - remember, that postal truck has to drive 50 miles out of the city to Farmer Brown's Place to deliver that letter. A money losing proposition that FedEx or UPS won't touch.

And, remember reading about the Pony Express ?

THAT is some hard core "sleet, rain, snow, gloom of night, etc"

"The US Government favoring IE and Microsoft is nothing new:"

Stop whining. you can run this software on your Mac with Parallels or Boot Camp, or go to the web based page.

I would prefer that the USPS didn't waste money writing applications to satisfy 3% of it's customer base when they're already well served by web based apps. Why not bring out native versions for Linux, Mac OS X etc etc. Why? Because they're small user bases already covered by the web based product, and those that really want to run the native application on the Mac can.

After all wasn't it Steve Jobs who said that native apps were for the birds and all you'd ever need were web 2.0 applications?

Nov 18, 08 - 08:52 am Comment from: MacRaven

Anyone notice that if you tried to write feedback from the link, the page that opened wouldn't display correctly in Safari? Links didn't work (blue Q. marks in boxes) the submit button was a blank square.

I opened it in Firefox, read what was supposed to be there, clicked on the blank box that should have said Submit, just in case they take count on who uses what browser.

This site depresses me; I don't think I want to visit it anymore. No matter what the topic, most threads descend into political warfare. If the Democrats have some power in government, then all of a sudden we've become socialist, or communist. If the Republicans have some power in government, then we've become fascist. This is no way for civilized people to behave. All we need is for the street violence to begin to look like pre-WW2 Germany.

Please, everybody. Keep the comments on topic. Please, MDN, moderate this site. It's not censorship. All the lunatic fringe on both sides have plenty of other political websites to go vomit their hate. If I want that crap, I can visit Rush Limbaugh or Keith Olbermann online.

Nov 18, 08 - 10:03 am Comment from: since1985

How is PayPal doing these days at making it's extra business software OS X compatible?

There's two problems here...

1- The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the Federal Government and supported by the Federal Government no matter how you slice it.

2- the E-Government Act of 2002 states that all publicly available electronic information and services provided by various Federal Government agencies should be easily accessible by all US citizens in a manner that is non-discriminative.

In a nutshell, the USPS has no excuse and I don't care how they get tax dollars!

Don't panic, everyone...I emailed the USPS asking if they are planning Mac support, and got this reply within 24 hours:


Dear USPS Customer,

We are currently working on the program.

Thanks,

Rita
USPS Internet Customer Care Center

It used to be that the ability to print mailing labels was offered from the web service. Now, they no longer offer that. If you want to use the web site to print a label you have to sing in and buy postage too. They say 'to print labels without postage use the shipping assistange'.. which remains MS-only (I know this is a Mac forum, but I used Linux and I'm in the same boat. Personally the solution is to ditch the special app you have to download and make *all* functions available via a web interface).

OH btw, I work for the USPS, and everything is MS. It sucks (And no, I'm not remotely near a position where I would have the slightest ability to influence the issue)