Americans can now renew passports online

2 thoughts: 1. It's 2024 and the US just now introduced online passport applications!? In the uk we must have been doing that for a decade at least. How is the US so backwards with this?

2. The cost of a passport is 130 dollars. Why so expensive?

Edit: another one, from the article >hoped to expand the program in the coming years to possibly include Americans living abroad

why not already? Anyone abroad would have an even harder time applying by post. In some countries post is practically obsolete. If delivery is an issue just send it to the consulate and work it out from there its like they are barely even trying.