Business Notes POSTAGE STAMPS

Some things are just too low tech to last. What could be more old-fashioned than wrestling a postage stamp out of its perforations, coating one's tongue with glue and watching the stamp come unstuck along the edges? Sure enough, that ritual is now headed the way of the penny postcard. Last week the U.S. Postal Service introduced EXTRAordinary Stamps, a line of peel-and-stick, self-adhesive postage stamps billed as "the most thoroughly researched and tested issue in U.S. stamp history." The new 25 cents first-class stamps will be test-marketed for 30 days in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Minneapolis and ten other cities. One possible sticking point for consumers: a booklet of 18 first-class stamps is priced at $5, which includes a 50 cents markup to cover the cost of the new "special features."