Sneakernets are alive and well
In The Gaven, Pelgrem uses a station wagon to deliver items. It’s a modified version of the sneakernet. Apparently, Osama bin Laden utilized a sneakernet as well.
Although bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan lacked phone and Internet connectivity, the al Qaeda leader used his computers to prepare messages and save them on flash drives, which would be passed to a courier, according to the Associated Press. The courier would head to a far-flung Internet cafe, send the outgoing messages, retrieve the incoming ones, and then return to Abbottabad with the responses.
That physical couriering of data, or sneakernet, helped bin Laden to evade U.S. intelligence agencies, especially the extraordinarily sensitive electronic ears of the National Security Agency, which specializes in intercepting radio and other communications.
It’s very ingenious that bin Laden utilized a sneakernet for passing of messages. It’s also the most logical choice.
