Postcards used to be sent through the postal service.
Postal is a term that denotes a relationship with the mail service and is found, for example, in concepts such as post office box or postal code (defined below). On the other hand, in everyday speech, it is generally associated with the notion of a postcard , which is a rectangular piece of cardboard or thick paper that usually includes an illustration on one side and, on the other, a space for writing.
Sending a postcard does not require an envelope and, in addition, it is a more economical service than sending a traditional letter. The illustration on the postcards usually includes a photograph of the place where it was purchased; For this reason, this resource is used to maintain communication during a trip or to carry a souvenir of a city that was visited.
The rise of the Internet has turned cardboard or paper postcards into collector 's items and little used in practice. Digital postcards , which are sent via email and allow the inclusion of animations, have replaced them. Among the advantages of digital postcards are immediacy and low or no cost.
From the printed postcard to the digital one
The slow disappearance of letters and postcards, to be replaced by their digital alternatives, is far from representing a mere change in media. Years ago, many years ago, sending a handwritten note, with imperfections, with unique writing , with tears, kisses, drawings, doodles and all kinds of absolutely personal ornaments kept a bond alive in a more spontaneous, less everyday. When someone embarked on a trip , their loved ones anxiously awaited the news, without knowing with certainty when or if it would arrive.
On the other hand, if one thinks that mobile phones with Internet allow distances to be shortened 24 hours a day to the point of making them almost insignificant, they should not necessarily be considered a step backwards in human relationships. This dilemma should be resolved in a more generous way: choose the communication system with which we pollute the planet less, destroy fewer forests, and leave fewer animal species without habitat.
Nowadays postcards are usually digital.
Concepts formed with the term
The adjective postal, on the other hand, allows us to create several concepts. The ZIP code is a combination of numbers and/or letters that functions as a code for a district and helps classify and distribute mail.
The post office box is a system provided by post offices, and consists of renting a section or box with a number that allows the user to deposit and store their correspondence . Its main advantage over the traditional system is identity protection, very useful in many cases.
Video game «Postcard»
«Postal» , finally, is a video game developed by Running With Scissors that was released in 1997 for Windows , Linux and Mac OS , with a second part six years later. It is a third-person shooting game with a mainly isometric perspective, although in some of the levels the camera is positioned above the action . As for its appearance, it shows off a hand-painted graphic.
The success of said series of games was nothing to sneeze at; In 2007 , Uwe Boll (director and screenwriter of German origin who has dedicated much of his work to adapting video games to the big screen) presented a film inspired by " Postcard" . It is an absurd comedy that narrates the crazy adventures of Postal Dude (" Postal Dude "), the protagonist of the game, who devises a plan to become a millionaire that consists of stealing two thousand stuffed animals sought after by collectors and selling them to through the Internet.