Postage rates
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
There has of course always been (since LBB2) the expedient personal touch, contact a starship Captain and for Cr20-120 they will (the presumption being they are trusty) deliver your personal mail to the next stop. Or you might approach a crew member of a starship for a more secret (and possibly less trusty) delivery.
For extra interest, imagine sending your mail with a lowberth passenger bound for where you want. They'll be happy for a little extra coin. Or you might try another (high or mid) passenger.
Anyway, the X-Boat service rates aren't in Supp 12 (that I can see, I thought they were right on the form, but it's not in that version and I don't see it in the text either, maybe a later one?).
Found it in The Traveller Adventure.
"Xmail: Messages sent by xboat. Xmail carries information
only; material objects may not be sent. The message
is digitally coded; xmail costs Cr1O per 20 kilobits per
parsec. The message may be sent using a standard Anglic
character set (about Cr1O for a 500 word message) or a
picture may be reproduced in facsimile (Cr20 for a
200 x 200 bit matrix). The message is printed out at its
destination and delivered by a world's local mail system."
So, about Cr20 per page per parsec.
For extra interest, imagine sending your mail with a lowberth passenger bound for where you want. They'll be happy for a little extra coin. Or you might try another (high or mid) passenger.
Anyway, the X-Boat service rates aren't in Supp 12 (that I can see, I thought they were right on the form, but it's not in that version and I don't see it in the text either, maybe a later one?).
Found it in The Traveller Adventure.
"Xmail: Messages sent by xboat. Xmail carries information
only; material objects may not be sent. The message
is digitally coded; xmail costs Cr1O per 20 kilobits per
parsec. The message may be sent using a standard Anglic
character set (about Cr1O for a 500 word message) or a
picture may be reproduced in facsimile (Cr20 for a
200 x 200 bit matrix). The message is printed out at its
destination and delivered by a world's local mail system."
So, about Cr20 per page per parsec.
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I think we had this discussion before (but I can't seem to find it). Those X-Message rates would make the X-Boat service richer than any MegaCorp. Those rates were made back in the 70's when computers still filled a room (or several) and RAM or hard memory was expensive.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Maybe on the TML?
Anyway, it doesn't matter how big or small the computer is, nor how cheap or expensive it is to build, the message price may be (is imo) still valid. We are talking about interstellar communication
(and it's totally made up like every other economic price). Though hunting it up I did go "hunh? per parsec rate?! fancy that!" 
As far as the IISS being the POWER in the Imperium, well yeah, of course it is
Maybe on the TML?
Anyway, it doesn't matter how big or small the computer is, nor how cheap or expensive it is to build, the message price may be (is imo) still valid. We are talking about interstellar communication (and it's totally made up like every other economic price). Though hunting it up I did go "hunh? per parsec rate?! fancy that!"
As far as the IISS being the POWER in the Imperium, well yeah, of course it is
I've never been on the TML.
But,
Do you really think they'd be charging Cr10 per KILOBIT?!?
o:Computers are now rated in GigaBytes and I haven't heard the word KiloBit since the 80's. I just went looking for a kilobit to kilobyte converter - 1 gigabyte is 8,388,608 kilobits (divided by 20 kilobits per message/page = 419430.4 multiplied by Cr10 = 4,194,304 Credits per GigaByte). My home computer has an 80 GigaByte harddrive. By The Traveller Book standards, my home computer harddrive can make up to Cr335,544,320 (335 Million Credits) in a one-parsec trip. That's just one trip by one ship if it was using my home computer as a storage medium for X-Messages. Granted, the drive might not always be full (could hold 33,554,432 messages), but with High-Population worlds, it's possible it could be.
How many X-Boats are out there in the Imperium?
I don't think The Third Imperium would ever have a money/economic problem, tho. There wouldn't be a need for interstellar taxes.
At those rates, would any corporation bother with the X-Boat service? They'd make a killing bypassing the X-Boat system and starting their own message service at cut rates. Even cutting the price 90% (only charging 10% of the Imperial price) would be 33.5 Million Credits per parsec (still theoretically using my home computer harddrive). Why would anyone ever get into the interstellar cargo shipping business if they could just courier messages from one system to the next? They could pay off the ship in one run.
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Sure, but computer storage is funny that way. It doesn't matter how much they increase it they keep finding ways to fill it up. Does you GigaByte computer really do that much more than than the Kilobyte computers of years past?
It's just done flashier is all. Same for messages in the far future imo. So instead of some archaic telegram. Stop. With just words. Stop. You get a fully interactive hologram, or whatever. I never used the Kilobit rating, I just did it by pages. Text or graphic, or whatever, and it was all deeply encrypted and backed up in triplicate and stored holographically. The data capacity was never the issue. As today compared to then, the same info just fills the greater storage capacity Compare it instead to secure shipping of sensitive documents. There's no way citizen Jayne Doe is routinely sending love notes to his sweetheart 5 sectors away via X-Boat like we exchange e-mails or snail mail here on Earth. It's more like Corp-X is sending contracts and such to it's branches a world or two distant. The only entities sending anything further are MegaCorps (and they typically have their own couriers) or silly PCs who left something important behind and only now realize they need it sent to them, after they misjumped a dozen parsecs
(sucks to be them ).
I simply left the costs per page at 500 words (presuming a major issue is entry fees, not memory), and the facsimile page at 75pixels per mm in 32bit color. (about 300dpi), and left the fees. The pix are far easier to handle, but the text input is typed in by hand, often while talkign to the customer. A ready data packet I cut to Cr2/parsec per 500 words.
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
FarTrader: Yes, the modern computer can do a lot more than a box from 10 or 20 years ago.
20 years ago: Type the program, run compiler stage 1, find typos etc, rinse, repeat
Today: Type the program, online/realtime syntax checking and coloring finds errors during typing
Result: Better productivity
20 years ago: Look up stuff in the handbook
Today: Use a help function with more data than most printed handbooks
Result: Less movement, more weight in the programmer
And there are many more. A lot of the "flash" is increased productivity. Even if you compare an ATARI ST or X-Window system if 1988 with a current WinXP (or to a lesser extend X-Windows) system
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X-Boats: Sending X-Messages was so rare that I never bothered with the price. But a "price per single file, no matter the size" coupled with "No archive files allowed" and "no encryption allowed" makes the most sense and the least hassle in my opinion. After all the messages are "electronic only" so why restrict it to "letters". And with the "no encryption allowed" (Official reason: May Interfer with the X-Net internal encryption) the Imperials get a chance to read/scan your mail. Just in case you wonderd what the scout does during jump
20 years ago: Type the program, run compiler stage 1, find typos etc, rinse, repeat
Today: Type the program, online/realtime syntax checking and coloring finds errors during typing
Result: Better productivity
20 years ago: Look up stuff in the handbook
Today: Use a help function with more data than most printed handbooks
Result: Less movement, more weight in the programmer
And there are many more. A lot of the "flash" is increased productivity. Even if you compare an ATARI ST or X-Window system if 1988 with a current WinXP (or to a lesser extend X-Windows) system
=====================
X-Boats: Sending X-Messages was so rare that I never bothered with the price. But a "price per single file, no matter the size" coupled with "No archive files allowed" and "no encryption allowed" makes the most sense and the least hassle in my opinion. After all the messages are "electronic only" so why restrict it to "letters". And with the "no encryption allowed" (Official reason: May Interfer with the X-Net internal encryption) the Imperials get a chance to read/scan your mail. Just in case you wonderd what the scout does during jump
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
From MgT, in the section about characters carrying mail that is not 'vital enough' to be entrusted to the X-Boat service or a private courier.
andpage 160 Core Rulebook said:
Maybe you can use this in some way to figure out costs and then prices charged? Would need to determine how much data is stored in 5 tons of space.page 162 Core Rulebook said:
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Interesting Cosmic Gamer, I hadn't come across that yet.
I'd always done that Mail (contracts available for subsidized merchants with proper setups only) as actual physical documents and small parcels. Even the IISS deals in some small high priority physical items with it's X-Boats and Type S Scout/Couriers in MTU. On occasion even Free-Traders carry some mail (typically unknowingly, the odd Incidental sealed Freight lot can sometimes be official Mail in MTU).
Given that historically the price paid (Cr5,000 per ton) is subsidized I'd say it's not a clear indication of the actual "value" but it could work for some.
I'd always done that Mail (contracts available for subsidized merchants with proper setups only) as actual physical documents and small parcels. Even the IISS deals in some small high priority physical items with it's X-Boats and Type S Scout/Couriers in MTU. On occasion even Free-Traders carry some mail (typically unknowingly, the odd Incidental sealed Freight lot can sometimes be official Mail in MTU).
Given that historically the price paid (Cr5,000 per ton) is subsidized I'd say it's not a clear indication of the actual "value" but it could work for some.
And with the "no encryption allowed" (Official reason: May Interfer with the X-Net internal encryption) the Imperials get a chance to read/scan your mail. Just in case you wonderd what the scout does during jump
I don't really see that flying for a number of reasons, the biggest being no one would believe the official explanation.
Given mail's 5 ton-displacement allotment, that's 70 cubic meters. Or roughly a 40' connex container. allowing 10Mg per Td, that's up to 50 tons mail, 5000/50000kg 0.1Cr/KG
If postage is Cr1 per parsec for a letter, or Cr10 per parsec for a kilo, you only need about 2% capacity to pay for the shipping and overhead.
I can see lowering the cost on data tx to be Cr10 per jump per GiB...
If postage is Cr1 per parsec for a letter, or Cr10 per parsec for a kilo, you only need about 2% capacity to pay for the shipping and overhead.
I can see lowering the cost on data tx to be Cr10 per jump per GiB...
mbrinkhues
SOC-14 1K
I don't really see that flying for a number of reasons, the biggest being no one would believe the official explanation.
Ah come on, just ask that friendly Marine over there, he'll tell you that it's true. Really
Imperial Marines - Making you believe since the year 0
I've read that Western Union didn't allow coded messages over the telegraph. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, though. If it is true, maybe someone know what the reason given was?I don't really see that flying for a number of reasons, the biggest being no one would believe the official explanation.
Hans
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
Google "Zimmerman telegram"... you'll see why.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Nah, nothing to do with secrets, many telegrams included secret codes, and shorthands, mostly to save a few pennies (big money at the time). IF (big if) WU ever had a policy of no codes it was to make sure they made more money
There was (is) a whole lexicon of shorthand designed to pinch pennies on telegrams. And many businesses used code words to avoid giving away trade secrets. The German telegram referenced was a silly attempt at secrecy imo. It would obviously be code and attract attention and obviously was pretty easily cracked. Better to have sent it in a simpler code hidden in plain English (or German for that matter). A simple prearranged read every 5th letter or whatever (get even more clever and have a random string of numbers for the letters to read). Longer to encode but dang hard to crack, and no overt attention if cleverly done.
There was (is) a whole lexicon of shorthand designed to pinch pennies on telegrams. And many businesses used code words to avoid giving away trade secrets. The German telegram referenced was a silly attempt at secrecy imo. It would obviously be code and attract attention and obviously was pretty easily cracked. Better to have sent it in a simpler code hidden in plain English (or German for that matter). A simple prearranged read every 5th letter or whatever (get even more clever and have a random string of numbers for the letters to read). Longer to encode but dang hard to crack, and no overt attention if cleverly done.
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