--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There have been several attempts at…" description: "\"“There have been several attempts at setting up electronic mail systems within the federal post office administration, but all have failed, not for tec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/gerard-k-o-neill-12872_job-security_there-have-been-several-attempts-at-sett_1267376.jpg" --- # There have been several attempts at setting up electronic… ![“There have been several attempts at setting up electronic mail systems within the federal post office administration, but all have failed, not for technical reasons, but because the post office is resistant to change, as it is locked into a bureaucratic system in which patronage and civil-service…” quote by Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/gerard-k-o-neill-12872_job-security_there-have-been-several-attempts-at-sett_1267376.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/gerard-k-o-neill-12872_job-security_there-have-been-several-attempts-at-sett_1267376.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/gerard-k-o-neill-12872_job-security_there-have-been-several-attempts-at-sett_1267376.jpg) > ““There have been several attempts at setting up electronic mail systems within the federal post office administration, but all have failed, not for technical reasons, but because the post office is resistant to change, as it is locked into a bureaucratic system in which patronage and civil-service job security are far more important than efficiency. Given that history, it seems to me more likely that electronic mail will come about through private rather than governmental action.”” [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Resistance to change in large bureaucracies hinders innovation, so private sector drives email adoption. **In simple terms:** Bureaucracy blocks tech; private firms succeed. Key Takeaway Expect change from outside institutions. Themes bureaucracy innovation private sector government technology adoption resistance to change Mood skeptical analytical informative Type observational critical When to use this quote - government IT projects - private tech startups - email implementation - policy reform Key Concepts organizational inertia public policy technology diffusion Questions to Reflect On - How can governments reduce bureaucratic inertia? - What incentives encourage private innovation? A Different Perspective Private sector may also face regulatory hurdles and market failures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) [Electronic Mail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electronic-mail-1796694/) [Federal Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/federal-post-4049513/) [Job security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-security/) [Locked Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locked-bureaucratic-4049515/) [Mail Systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mail-systems-4049514/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) ## Related quotes > [“At the present rate of technical development, electronic mail is probably no more than one or two decades away, so in the Tehaneys' world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/at-the-present-rate-of-technical-development-electronic-mail-is/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [It is hard to check five email inboxes, three voice mail systems, or five blogs that you are tracking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rose/it-is-hard-to-check-five-email-inboxes-three-voice-mail-systems-or/) [David Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rose/) > [Written communication is a tremendous help for me, and so when electronic mail was invented in '71, I got very excited about it, thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/written-communication-is-a-tremendous-help-for-me-and-so-when/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Somehow, when I wasn't looking, somehow because it's electronic mail, none of the basic grammar rules applied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryjanice-davidson/somehow-when-i-wasn-t-looking-somehow-because-it-s-electronic-mail/) [MaryJanice Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryjanice-davidson/) > [In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-the-bureaucratic-machine-of-socialism-the-way-toward-promotion-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [We need to call what is happening out of Washington, D.C., what it is: Bureaucratic terrorism: If you want a list of stories, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/we-need-to-call-what-is-happening-out-of-washington-d-c-what-it-is/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [ \[The Clinton health care initiative is\] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-washed-over-old-time/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-work-is-made-on-lines-similar-to-those-of-a-film-production-a-lot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-yeager/in-1966-nasa-took-over-in-space-and-it-has-been-a-bureaucratic-mess/) [Chuck Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-yeager/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) ## More by Gerard K. O'Neill > [“Next my guide explained that we would travel to Erie on an underground high-speed vehicle called a "floater," which ran in vacuum through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/next-my-guide-explained-that-we-would-travel-to-erie-on-an/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“At the other extreme, and far less threatening, will be the "house computer" of 2081. It will store all the information from all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/at-the-other-extreme-and-far-less-threatening-will-be-the-house/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“few dozen" wise, unselfish sages,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/few-dozen-wise-unselfish-sages/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“To minimize the sense of confinement, one of our video channels provided a breathtaking view of our journey, as seen from a helicopter flying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/to-minimize-the-sense-of-confinement-one-of-our-video-channels/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [We should ask, critically and with appeal to the numbers, whether the best site for a growing advancing industrial society is Earth, the Moon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/we-should-ask-critically-and-with-appeal-to-the-numbers-whether-the/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“She showed me the controls for the stereo, the video, and the lights, and added that if I just spoke in a normal tone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/she-showed-me-the-controls-for-the-stereo-the-video-and-the-lights/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“We is still banned in the USSR.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/we-is-still-banned-in-the-ussr/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“It would be quite feasible to project materials from the Moon's surface down to Earth by means of electrically powered catapults or launching tracks,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/it-would-be-quite-feasible-to-project-materials-from-the-moon-s/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“It's an established fact that the very few naturally gifted "born teachers" are enormously more effective than the great mass of those in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/it-s-an-established-fact-that-the-very-few-naturally-gifted-born/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [It is the hope of those who work toward the breakout from planet Earth that the establishment of permanent, self-sustaining colonies of humans off-Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/it-is-the-hope-of-those-who-work-toward-the-breakout-from-planet/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“The venerable Walt Disney commercial empire had established around the turn of the century one of the largest "theme parks" in the country, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/the-venerable-walt-disney-commercial-empire-had-established-around/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“All of the homes, shops, and office buildings in Waterford are linked by an underground package-transfer network that uses the "floater" technology. It takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/all-of-the-homes-shops-and-office-buildings-in-waterford-are-linked/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“Once that day a chime sounded and the video told us of congestion two hundred kilometers ahead, near Chicago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/once-that-day-a-chime-sounded-and-the-video-told-us-of-congestion-two/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“Before engineers and scientists had acquired experience with large quantities of liquid hydrogen, they were fearful of its explosive properties. Now, though, after several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/before-engineers-and-scientists-had-acquired-experience-with-large/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) > [“Electricity has just two disadvantages: it is difficult to store cheaply, and it can be transmitted easily only on high-voltage lines, above the ground…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-k-o-neill/electricity-has-just-two-disadvantages-it-is-difficult-to-store/) [Gerard K. O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) [Explore all 51 Gerard K. O'Neill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-k-o-neill/) ## More Bureaucratic quotes > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-conquest/the-behavior-of-any-bureaucratic-organization-can-best-be-understood/) [Robert Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-conquest/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-yeager/in-1966-nasa-took-over-in-space-and-it-has-been-a-bureaucratic-mess/) [Chuck Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-yeager/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-work-is-made-on-lines-similar-to-those-of-a-film-production-a-lot/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Clinton health care initiative is\] washed-over old-time bureaucratic liberalism, or centralized bureaucratic socialism. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/the-clinton-health-care-initiative-is-washed-over-old-time/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [The prison industrial complex, to put it in its crassest term, is a system of industrial mass incarceration. So there's what you call bureaucratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-jarecki/the-prison-industrial-complex-to-put-it-in-its-crassest-term-is-a/) [Eugene Jarecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-jarecki/) > [We need to call what is happening out of Washington, D.C., what it is: Bureaucratic terrorism: If you want a list of stories, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/we-need-to-call-what-is-happening-out-of-washington-d-c-what-it-is/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) > [In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-the-bureaucratic-machine-of-socialism-the-way-toward-promotion-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-bureaucratic-manager-the-consuming-aesthete-the-therapist-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [The bureaucratic method of building an integrated Europe has exhausted its potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/the-bureaucratic-method-of-building-an-integrated-europe-has/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [OFSTED has made large cuts in the paperwork which schools are asked to provide and further steps to reduce the bureaucratic burden will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-morris/ofsted-has-made-large-cuts-in-the-paperwork-which-schools-are-asked/) [Estelle Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle-morris/) > [“First, since so much time is spent by people in bureaus working with paper, they may come to set too much store by it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-since-so-much-time-is-spent-by-people-in-bureaus-working-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 96 Bureaucratic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There have been several attempts at setting up electronic mail systems within the federal post office administration, but all have failed, not for technical reasons, but because the post office is resistant to change, as it is locked into a bureaucratic system in which patronage and civil-service job security are far more important than efficiency. 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