this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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I am rather surprised no one mentioned delivery drones yet ๐
I don't think they are necessarily the best solution, but I agree with others that the last mile delivery is probably the main problem and also where the most worker abuse happens (although the Amazon parcel sorting centers are also bad).
Co-utilizing overland busses and trains is common around the world and is probably more resource efficient to transport letters and smaller parcels.
But at a core I think the real question is: how will online market places adapt in a Solarpunk world? Hardly anyone sends paper letters anymore (other that bills and letters from government ๐), but online shops and the parcel delivery services are in a symbiotic relationship and you can't have one without the other.
I think online shops for niche products will likely continue to exist and have demand for, but the overall volume of parcel deliveries will probably go down.
Marketplaces/parcels are a good catch. I could see a society with more emphasis on reuse, DIY, and maintenance having an even bigger reliance on something adjacent to eBay, where you can buy (or trade in the future) component parts scavenged from old world technology. Like, if you have an old appliance or vehicle that you're limping along, and a part breaks, there may not be a major manufacturer cranking them out anymore - your options may be to commission one at a local machine co-op, or to get online and find one pulled from a compatible system. IRL I use eBay a lot for this while fixing computers. Need a back plate for a specific model of dell laptop they only made for a year? Someone is selling them for some reason. The future version might be more akin to asking around on forums and just trading favors, or there might be a dozen online flea markets and junkyards you can rely on for parts etc. Who knows
So yeah, I could see online marketplaces being really important, even in a culture with way more emphasis on scavenging and making do.
Drones are an interesting option - maybe good for taking shortcuts across terrain humans don't normally cross, like canyons nobody's built a bridge over? But if they're reliable enough I could see unmanned ones playing a role in rural postal services.