Dear paddy04-ga,
Good day!
Thanks for posting an interesting question to Google Answers! We all
take these words and the services for granted without ever thinking of
thier precise meanings. I am providing the answer in the next few of
paragraphs. I have divided my answer into two sections - one for
postal service and the other for universal service.
1. Postal Service
WordNet, a lexical database of the English Language, developed by the
Cognitive Science Laboratory (http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu) of the
Princeton University (http://www.princeton.edu)under the guidance of
the Principal Investigator Professor George A. Miller
(http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~geo/), defines the word "postal
service" as under:
"the system whereby messages are transmitted via the post office"
Reference:
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn?stage=1&word=postal+service
Search strategy:
define: postal service
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=define%3A+postal+service
2. Universal Service
The concept of universal service is much broader in scope. In its
original form, the concept was used for telecommunications services.
The US COngress mandated this public policy goal in the 1934
Communications Act. The objective was to make telephone services
available to all, regardless of the distance (of the caller) from the
switch or his/her ability to pay. Today, the universal service also
encompasses a subsidy to public schools, libraries and rural health
care facilities for telecom services.
The World Trade Organisation defines the term universal service as under:
"The concept that every individual within a country should have basic
telephone service available at an affordable price. The concept
varies, among countries, from having a telephone in every home and
business in the wealthier countries to most inhabitants' being within
a certain distance or time away from a public telephone in developing
countries."
The concept of univeral service has also been extended to the
electricity and the postal services.
The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers defines the term universal service as follows:
"The notion that everyone in every part of the country gets the same
type of mail service for the same price."
References:
Glossary of terms
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/serv_e/telecom_e/tel12_e.htm
Glossary of mail terms
http://www.nonprofitmailers.org/tools/gloss.htm
Dashboarding gloassary
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/dashboarding/glossary.htm#u
Search strategy:
define: universal service
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=define%3A+universal+service
3. Earliest References
Unfortunately, I did not come across any source that suggested any
particular date/time for the use of the terms. However, two excellent
references on the history of the postal service are available at the
following hyperlinks:
http://www.lookd.com/postal/history.html
http://www.aretek.com/POSTHISTORY.html
Going through the document, I could deduce that the first private,
organized postal service was the Thurn and Taxis system that started
its operations about 1290 and till its nationalization in 1867, had
grown to 20,000 messengers. Lousi XI of France set up a Royal Postal
Service in 1477 (maybe the earliest official use of the phrase?).
Arguable, the concept of universal postal service was propounded by
the English educator and tax reformer Rowland Hill. In his landmark
pamphlet, Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability", he
proposed a uniform rate of postage regardless of distance. His
suggestion was approved by the British government in 1840. The main
features of his reforms were gradually also adopted by other
countries.
The Universla Postal Union, set up in 1878, achieved something similar
for the international postal services. All the member countires agreed
to approximately uniform postal rates and weights.
Hope this helps!
Thanks & regards,
reeteshv-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
