Everything old is new again on the Web 4.0. Telegramstop is a service that lets you send a telegram-like object anywhere in the world for a flat fee. It’s a failry simple concept, and while I wish them all the luck in the world, I can’t help but be a little uncertain about the concept. If anything, Telegramstop foregrounds the deficiencies that weigh down the telegram in our brave new world.

Western Union sent its last telegram in 2006. Slower than email, but less personal than a hand-written letter or card, the telegram sits in an awkward place in communication history. Certainly the draw of something like this is nostalgia, but I don’t know that nostalgia alone can overcome the ease of email or the directness of good old pen-and-paper.

But it takes all kinds in the Web 5.0 (yeah, it happened that fast), and who knows, maybe that special Steam Punk in your life could use a little pick-me-up.