Tracking

So here I am, sitting at work while waiting eagerly for a parcel delivery at home. My husband and daughter are out of the house, so there's a little bit of panic setting in - what if FedEx attempts to deliver while there is noone home? Will I be able to pick it up at the sorting facility? Will they try to deliver it later today? I don't want to wait until tomorrow! I want to play with my new toy now!

Ahem.

Anyway, while I know it's not really economically feasible now, how long do you think it'll be before we can do real-time tracking of parcels? More than just "The box is on a FedEx Truck and out for delivery" but a mash-up between the FedEx Tracking and Google Maps. Imbed a small GPS unit in the shipping label, and off you go. Cheaper still, have a trackable GPS in each FedEx truck, and associate the packages in that truck with that unit. When the package is dropped off, the association is broken, but if there's noone there to sign for it, it stays on the truck.

I really like this idea. It allows you to watch your packages drive around the city while you wait impatiently for your toys... er packages to be delivered. And if it doesn't get dropped off, it allows you to watch your packages continue to drive around, while you are helpless to intercept or receive them.

And for those of us who have honed anticipation to an art form, that, in the words of Martha Stewart, is a Good Thing.