Snail mail
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Snail mail is a derogatory retronym — named after the snail with its proverbially slow speed — used to refer to letters and missives carried by conventional postal delivery services. The phrase refers to the lag-time between dispatch of a letter and its receipt, versus the virtually instantaneous dispatch and delivery of its electronic equivalent, e-mail.
It is also known, more neutrally, as paper mail, postal mail, or land mail.
Storing paper mail uses more physical space than storing e-mail. However, paper is a very reliable storage medium and is not dependent on any technology. Documents printed on most common paper and left undisturbed for one hundred years will be easily readable. In contrast, most electronic storage degrades much faster. Worse, devices that can read a particular electronic storage medium may be difficult to find and use even a decade or two after their introduction.
There are efforts to renew interest in paper mail, such as the creation of mail art - physical art that is distributed and swapped around the world. An example of this is [Nervousness.org], an organization of artists who create LMAOs, or Land Mail Art Objects (not to be confused with the Internet acronym LMAO, or Laughing My Ass Off), which are then swapped by post. Various forms of LMAOs include Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs), zines, decos, and many more. The Snail Mail World Postcard Art Show is one of the largest of its kind, drawing in up to 1000 entries each year.
Some online groups also use paper mail through regular gift or craft hot topics.
In the USA, LetterWise is an E-mail to paper mail service for those unable to receive email, such as the elderly. In the UK, Royal Mail offers a similar service.
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