Creative Destruction of Canadian e-post


Source: Canada Post







https://ipolitics.ca/2021/09/29/canada-post-ending-electronic-service-in-december-2022/


Recently I received an email reminding me of Canada Post's e-post service shutting down and I never knew such a thing even existed. After doing some research, I discovered that the e-post service is similar to Gmail and Outlook, but dedicated for Canadians and Canadian businesses. While it launched in 1999, three years after the launch of Hotmail and many years before the creation of Gmail, the service has been unable to compete with other tech services and is now being discontinued. 

This event reminds me of the concept of creative destruction where tech continuously innovates regardless of what may be lost along the way. Well known examples can be newspapers, where the invention of cellphones and the Internet have pretty much decimated the purchase of newspapers, and the taxi service where Uber has made an entire industry of taxi unions disappear. While the Canada Post e-post service isn't as large compared to the taxi or newspaper industry, it is a worrying sign that most of our tech services come from the United States. Canadian specific technologies, especially communications focused, don't exist and if all our communications processes are mediated through tech services from the United States, what would the end result be for our Canadian identity? 


Questions: What's a product or service that you can think of that was once popular and died out? Do you think it deserved to die out? 

Can you think of any Canadian communication services that we all use? 

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 17, 2022 at 5:43 PM

    Hi Tony, great blog post.

    There are a few services in which I can think of that were once very popular and have since died out, with the first being Canada's discount department store Zellers that was a discounted clothing and homegood store that was once very popular all around Canada. It has since been replaced by a number of new chains like Marshalls and Winners which are the most popular discounted clothing/homeware store available. I do think that this service deserved to die out as it was replaced with more modern and mainstream stores that keep up with the fast changing clothing market.

    To answer your second question, a Canadian communication service that we all use are Canadian phone plans/services like Bell Canada and Rogers Communications who connect millions of Canadians to the Internet and give them ability to email, text, call to almost anyone in the world. These companies have become worldwide as they provide Internet and TV services to almost everywhere, as well as cellular service to million of cellphones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 17, 2022 at 5:44 PM

    - Claire

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnthonyFebruary 17, 2022 at 7:24 PM

    Wow I didn't even know Canada Post had an e-post that quite surprising considering there known for mail. Against major giants in the industry it's not surprising that I haven't heard of it before though.

    The product that was once popular and has since "died" out would be blackberry in my opinion. I put died out in quotation as I think Blackberry is still around just nobody really talks about it anymore and basically died out from public view. I remember I had a blackberry and it was a nice fun phone to use. It was also the most popular phone at the time which was pretty crazy in comparison to now. I don't personally think it deserved to die out because I liked it quite a bit but it could not keep up with the iPhone and even now Samsung in my opinion can barely keep up as it is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 18, 2022 at 6:24 PM

    Hello!

    I did not know Canada Post had an e-post service either. I am surprised that it was unable to defeat the competition of Outlook or Gmail, as Canada Post has been a trusted Canadian company for years. I wonder what made their e-post service unsuccessful?

    I agree with Anathony, that the blackberry is what comes to mind when I think of a popular Canadian product that has died out. I remember being jealous of friends who had Blackberrys, but now they are a nostalgic item, rather than luxurious. I wonder if the Canadian company Shopify will have the same fate? Will they disappear to a non-Canadian company?

    In addition, Canadian communication services I think of is Social Media platforms like Narcity, where users are able to stay up to date on all things Canadian. Does anyone use any other Canadian Social Media Platforms ? - Julia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tyler McRaeMarch 23, 2022 at 10:25 PM

    Hi Tony,
    A particular service that has died out and was popular is Blockbuster. Due to the nature of the film industry shifting from the theatre to the home in online streaming, the entire business became popular due to offering that cheap service of owning something for a certain amount of time and return and if not just be charged until it covers the full cost of the movie in retail stores. While I do not think it deserved to die out, one store in Bend Oregon now serves as a cultural landmark with one store keeping the nostalgia alive with same service and merchandise to try and keep its cultural influence alive. Like all business operations, they have major changes every decade and with technology increasing every year faster than ever and being heavily relied upon, there is no telling what the next popular social media platform or retail store will be or look like.

    ReplyDelete

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