e-Parcel, LLC has announced they are bringing their proprietary data transferal system called e-Parcel Delivery Service to the Mac. e-Parcel works by having e-Parcel clients on either side that is transmitting data. Transferring files is as simple as dragging a file to the application icon and typing in a receiving ID. Particularly aimed at the publishing market, this service can greatly reduce the time needed to do this mundane chore. According to e-Parcel:
Answering the high demand for e-Parcel(TM) Service in the printing and publishing industries, "e-Parcel(R) Service" made its debut today on the Macintosh platform. Supporting System 7.6 and higher in both English and Japanese, e-Parcel lets graphic designers directly exchange their large data with customers and their printshops using their Macs.
Easy-to-Use & Supports Mac Native File Formats
Unlike FTP or web-based file posting delivery methods, files can be sent and received in their native Mac file format with e-Parcel. Users need only drag'n'drop their files or folders onto the e-Parcel software, type in the recipients ID, and click the "Send" button to make the delivery. e-Parcel automatically compresses and encrypts the data, saving the user the time and trouble of pre-compressing and encrypting the data then explaining to the recipient how to decompress and decrypt the data. Receiving is automatic, meaning there is no need to for the recipient to visit a remote FTP site or log into a web page to start the download.
e-Parcel is particularly useful for the printing and publishing industries since graphic designers work with high resolution images and drawings and produce larger than average size files, typically exceeding 10 MBs per page and even larger for multimedia data. e-Parcel takes away the time-consuming and costly method of writing the data to CD-ROM and using couriers to deliver the data to their customers and printshops. Unlike FTP or web-based file posting methods, e-Parcel has no delivery file size limit and you do not need to 'baby-sit' or continuously monitor your data transfers. e-Parcel deliveries are interruptable, which means that even if your connection to the Internet is disconnected, reestablishing the connection will automatically resume your delivery from the point of the interruption. e-Parcel works over dial-up as well as direct connections to the Internet.
You can find more information on this service at the company's web site. Pricing is handled on a per-delivery basis. e-Parcel fees are based on per-delivery charges according to data size. There are no monthly minimum fees, sign up or other upfront costs for e-Parcel™ Service.
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Price Schedule
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| File Size |
Price |
| < 1.5 MB |
$1.00 |
| 1.5 ~ 5.0 MB |
$2.50 |
| 5.0 ~ 100 MB |
$5.00 |
| over 100 MB |
$5.00 + 1¢ / MB |
The Mac Observer Spin: First of all, this company's web site is among the best we have ever seen for a corporate site. It's Flash based and we recommend that you check it out. On to more important matters:
We are making this a part of our "Another Sign" series because services like this have largely been ignored for the Mac. e-Parcel is the kind of product normally limited to Windows or maybe Unix systems and in fact e-Parcel has been available for both Windows and Unix for some time.
With the movement away from the Mc market by many now-regretful graphics houses, there was not much pressure on companies like e-Parcel to develop for the Mac. e-Parcel has obviously seen the opportunity to make money in our market which demonstrates the strength of said market. This is a good thing.
It's also a very cool service, especially for the graphics market. Many graphic designers are not the most technically advanced computer users. They are artists and the ins-and-outs of FTP are often not their bag. Services like e-Parcel totally eliminate the need for this technical knowledge. This not only reduces the time spent by artists and sales persons doing file transfers, it will also probably reduce support costs since their will be fewer problems. A win-win situation, even with the per-use charges.
e-Parcel
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