Snail mail plans to honor the man whose genius helped hasten its demise — introducing a new postage stamp next year bearing the likeness of legendary Apple founder Steve Jobs .
The cash-strapped United States Postal Service hopes to broaden the appeal of old-fashioned letter writing by issuing more stamps honoring pop-culture icons, a spokesman said.
“The Postal Service is looking to bring more timely, relevant, contemporary subjects to stamps . . . appealing to younger audiences,” spokesman Roy Betts told CNN. “It creates excitement.”
Wags quickly took to Twitter to note the irony of Jobs’ selection, making the case that e-mail, texting and instant messaging made it easier to communicate electronically than through the mail.
“Steve Jobs will be on a commemorative postage stamp- Pretty odd considering he helped destroy the USPS,” cracked tech site @PandoDaily on Twitter.
But Betts said there are no hard feelings — even though the service routinely loses billions a year because of the shrinking volume of mail. “Steve Jobs made major contributions and is worthy of this recognition,” he said.
The service will also produce stamps commemorating hoops legend Wilt Chamberlain, The Beatles’ John Lennon, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix; cartoon adventuress Dora the Explorer, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, screen legend Charlton Heston; tragic rock singer Janis Joplin and “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson.