Phone lines and postage stamps have been with us since the days of the Post Office. But it won't be long before existing assets become obsolete overnight, one for me imminently, the other this time next year.
The big change with postage stamps involves barcodes. You've probably seen these, especially if you received cards last Christmas because 2021's festive design came with a spotty sidebar. On Tuesday Royal Mail unexpectedly launched a new set of definitive stamps - plum purple for 1st class and holly green for 2nd class - with the barcode now an intrinsic part of the design.
It looks like the barcode is on a separate perforated section but that's an illusion, it's all one stamp and the line is printed on. Also the intention is that every single barcode will be different. This simply wouldn't have been possible with previous versions of printing technology, but major investment in new presses will allow Royal Mail to identify individual letters. It does mean the new stamps have to be considerably larger, now 39mm x 30mm rather than 20m x 24mm. And the intention is that these will completely replace existing definitive stamps with a full transition by the start of February 2023.
To try to pique our interest, Royal Mail are promoting this innovation with the news that scanning barcodes will allow you to watch additional content. Initially this is an exclusive Shaun the Sheep video, viewable only in the Royal Mail app, although "more videos will be added over the coming months". Eventually they hope we'll be able to record our own messages and the recipient will be able to scan the stamp and watch, adding an audiovisual dimension to a letter, greetings card or mailshot. But I can't imagine ever wanting to endure the faff, given the sender could simply have sent me a video message direct, so there must be more to this than Aardman animations.
Affixing a unique identifier should allow Royal Mail to track individual items throughout the posting process. This could be extremely valuable information for some large clients, and might eventually enable some kind of Track and Trace for letters like there is for parcels. Envelopes won't need dots added any more because all the postcode information can be applied via the barcode, and even postmarks might eventually be retired. The barcode also makes counterfeiting stamps much harder, and prevents people reusing stamps because the system will know they've been used before. All the major benefits appear to be to Royal Mail themselves, with personalised videos merely a bit of froth to smooth the innovation through.
Things must be serious because a date has been announced for the demise of previously-printed stamps. Until the end of January both types will work in parallel but from 1st February 2023 non-barcoded definitive and Christmas stamps will become invalid. If you once stocked up on sheets of definitives at a much lower price, or spend the year sticking your surplus Christmas stamps on birthday cards, that'll no longer work. Rest assured that Royal Mail have pledged to launch a ‘Swap Out’ scheme at the end of next month whereby non-barcoded stamps can be exchanged for the new barcoded version. All we know so far is that "Forms will be available via a variety of channels including local Customer Service Points, the Royal Mail website and via our Customer Experience team" and that exchanges can be made via a Freepost address.
This is nothing less than a complete overhaul of all the postage stamps in general supply. The last time this happened was with decimalisation, where several decadesworth of older stamps suddenly became invalid on 29 February 1972. It's similar to what happens when an old banknote is retired or an older size of coin withdrawn, flushing out the public's hoarded stock in a total replacement scenario. It's quick too, given that the very first barcodes appeared as recently as March last year. It's not clear whether the switch will apply to special stamps - the pretty ones with themed designs - because none of those have yet been barcoded. But be prepared to use up your old stamps over the next twelve months or get them swapped for something new, else you'll be in a sticky situation next February.
Meanwhile I've had an email from BT telling me my landline is about to be cut off. Specifically my existing copper cable will be retired and in future I'll receive phone calls via my fibre-based broadband connection instead. They call it 'Digital Voice' and it's part of a nationwide program to convert the entire network by 2025. My switchover date is soon but as yet unspecified.
I was upgraded to superfast broadband a while back, so simply for economic reasons it makes sense BT'd want to phase out my older line. Apparently all I have to do on the designated day is plug my phone into my 'Smart Hub' rather the wall socket and everything'll work, the only obvious difference being that I'll hear a new dial tone (and will need to add the area code when making local calls). If I had a burglar alarm or medical pendant there'd be more to do, and some older people might find the change a struggle, but for me it should be very straightforward.
That said, if there's ever a power cut or the broadband fails I won't be able to make calls, including those to 999. It's all very well saying "you can always use your mobile" but if that runs low and can't be recharged (because there's no electricity) I'd be completely cut off. It's always been a comfort that if Armageddon approaches and all the power fails, I might still be able to ring my Dad via old school technology and share some final words.
It feels odd that a technology we've long relied on will soon be redundant, and that decades of effort ensuring every household was connected via copper cable will soon be discarded. But it's all part of a relentless upgrade in communication technology which has already killed off teletext and analogue TV, might one day cancel analogue radio and is about to make postage stamps a bit bigger. Normality always moves on.
Friday update: To answer more of your dead phone questions, try the Future of Voice website and FAQ.
