The business card needs to die, and everyone knows it. They’re clumsy, easy to lose, and virtually useless as one of the last bits of information that we pass non-digitally (they kill trees, too). The cell phone market could easily put business cards out of their misery, but instead of conforming to a single standard for contact exchange, handset manufacturers offer proprietary solutions or none at all.
FriendBook, an iPhone application from Tapulous, looked like it might hold the answer. The app uses a physical “handshake” to swap information – users simply put their iPhones next to each other and shake them. Granted, this would only work on iPhones, but it could have paved the way for similar apps on other phones. But as of yesterday the fate of FriendBook is now in jeopardy due to the departure of its lead developer (and Tapulous cofounder) Mike Lee. So is all hope lost?
Gabe Zichermann, CEO of rmbrME (”remember me”), thinks that his startup holds the answer. The service uses standard SMS or a web app to initiate the transfer of contact information, so it should work on nearly any phone. rmbrME initially launched last spring under a paid model (you’d have to pay around 50 cents every time you wanted to add a new contact). But because of an immediate poor response to the model, rmbrME is now free, though it plans to offer a premium service in the future.
To begin using the rmbrME, you first set up a profile including your standard contact information as well as links to your presence across various social networks. After meeting a potential new contact, you send a text message containing either the contact’s email address or phone number to a designated rmbrME shortcode. rmbrME then sends your new contact a SMS or email message with a link to your details, and asks them to create their own profile so that you can receive theirs.
Zichermann says it only takes about 3 seconds to initiate the process – just send your contact’s email to rmbrME, and you can complete the rest later. That may be the case, but each user still needs to logon to the site, download the contact information from there, and create an account if they want to send their own data back. People may be willing to jump through a few hoops for essential contacts, but the process is still too involved, especially when meeting a large number of people at once. rmbrME is a step up from the antiquated business card, but at this point it isn’t the ultimate solution.
So what is the answer? Handset manufacturers need to agree on a format for proximity-based exchange over the air between devices – whip out the phones, detect nearby acquaintances, and hit accept. Palm was doing this a decade ago (albeit with a proprietary format), yet we’re still fumbling with Email exchanges and workaround solutions.
I would not be sorry to see the business card die.
me neither, I can’t stand the wasted paper…not to mention the inefficiency of typing all that in. Having all your card info in one place for sending (like rmbrme) is a great idea. But there also needs to be a variety of easy ways to send that info and form a number of places/devices.
I’m a rmbrme user, and a big fan of the service. I signed up because I was a recipient of one their contact messages and it seemed like a no-brain way to send out my info with minimal involvement on the part of the recipient. It’s not practical for me to go through toggling bluetooth on my phone to transfer vcards (let alone explaining bluetooth to non-tech acquaintances). In fact, if there are a number of people exchanging info in a group, all I need to do is txt the announced numbers to rmbrme and the rest takes care of itself. The messages they send out on my behalf are pretty clear, and have resulted in a number of added facebook/linkedin contacts without any searching involved.
Most successful people I know simply don’t own a computer, sure as hell not a cell phone. There is no subtitute for a business card in the real world.
Here is my 2 cents worth:
1. The universal language for cell phones is sms… its the only way to gaurantee the devices can talk to everyone you meet.
2. The exchange must be triggered by something short and sweet… something that can be easily exchanged but unique so that all your business card details can be delivered in lieu of the initial exchange….
And the answer is!!!!! Let me file a provisional first and ill respond with the details…
Yes I agree that cards are pretty useless but this is one of the least convincing solutions… I dont want to pay to get your useless card and I pay for data or SMS it just looks so bad I want a card because I cant spell your email easily/quickly and this solves that….
my question is what happened to bluetooth exchanging of vCard and palm beaming ?
vCards need funkyness added because people like the brandedness the funky images etc
regards
John Jones
http://www.johnjones.me.uk
really I am waiting for bluetooth social networking based on proximity and pulling that information into a phone book…. vodafone has a app in development i believe…
regards
John Jones
http://www.johnjones.me.uk
Wow, are you clueless….Nokia has had that for years, and it never went anywhere. Vodafone isn’t going to solve this problem no matter how big. Pls go back to sleep.
Tim rip, stop trolling.
And John, yes Vodafone has something like that in development but it’s open. It’s called Zyb.com and was recently acquired by Vodafone for €31.5 Million.
Over here in Tokyo its completely normal to send your cell phone details by wireless Infra Red. Every new phone can do it (i believe except the iPhone). Its standard by all Japanese cell phone companies.
Business cards do have a certain purpose you don’t want to give your cell number to every one… If you exchange contact info by cell phone people do expect to receive your cell phone number, or cell phone email address. This is not ideal for all business situations (like women are generally more cautious over here about handing out cell phone numbers). This is just one example.
A standard is good but some countries in Asia do have a standard already in place.
Ya know, I’m beginning to think TechCrunch is basically around to pronounce things dead.
Bentley, you are a genius. Listen to 89.9 every day, you’re the man. Your boy Bolthouse needs to clean up his dj act though.
jason, you are a douchebag.
hey
check out this website swapbusineecard.com they offer a new way of exchanging business cards. you can create own cards and exchange then online, once you ate connected to your contact you can have their address and location in the map provided, in case your contact changes or adds another number you need not spend time to update that in your address book. it will get updated automatically. they are coming with a desktop version and a mobile application as well.
Link http://swapbusinesscard.com/
And… remember Apple did it before Palm with the Newton… It would only be fitting for Apple to bring this back in a non-proprietary vCard style format. If my iPhone can control my AppleTV… it can toss vCards to other phones.
One would at least think so, right…?!
I don’t own a cell phone… what am I supposed to do?
get an iphone. fast.
Won’t work in Japan, due to absence of IR port. See above.
fanbois…
can’t wait for the BB bold. I know you’ll switch back too
die
Consider yourself lucky.
Wow , are there ppl in the world who still don’t own cellphones but can comment on Techcrunch blogs!!
Seriously. Impossible.
My only worry is that apple has a kill switch and can disable any app if they wish. Since they like to be separate from other systems I think a system like Japan’s would be more useful. Apple tends to get the forward thinkers and early adopters, when the rest of the industry gets on board it should happen here in the U.S.A. too.
Ah, those early adopter Mactards. Quickly onto touchscreen phones, then 3g phones.
This is what you need to do to kill biz cards.
Get card,
email owner once back at office.
File card never to be seen.
Damn, just bought like 800 business cards. I suppose it’s cheaper than buying an iPhone though.
I love cool solutions to getting rid of business cards, but I don’t know if this is it.
Bluetooth business cards? Anyone? I implore someone to figure that out, every phone has Bluetooth these days.
But Tapulous pretty much rocks.
Well, if they iPhone at least allowed to exchange vCards by Bluetooth etc. like almost every other handset does, that would be more than enough for me right now…! As much as I love my iPhone I’m still amazed about how many things it *can’t* do…! Not because it’s not capable of those things, but because Apple cripples the device…
It’s ridiculous and almost emberassing when you talk to someone and it goes:
“Okay, beam over your vCard, I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
“Uhm, can’t beam anything over Bluetooth, sorry. It’s just for my headset.”
“… Ehm, well, no problem, I got infrared as well!”
“…”
“Oh dear…”
So I really don’t see why we’d need a service like rmbrME when the standard has been around for years — vCards and wireless exchange, what more do you need?! Deifnitely not yet another web service people have to sign up for…!?
Even if the usability is ok for you, it’s still is pretty shitty for everyone else. I don’t even care to figure out how to do it on my Nokia, SE or Blackberry. I think RmrmebrME could be a great usable solution if they get the interaction design just right AND very little action required from the receiving party.
Yep, it’s quite hard to send a vCard in Nokia phones…
Go to your Contacts, open the contact you want to share (it can be as well your own info as anyone in your Contact book), hit options and choose “send business card”.
BAAAAF idea,
Your post mentions several solutions that have been less than successful so far: that is telling you something…
Hope you mean getting rid of business cards in the active IT community: I am all for it.
However, although I think that we will get there at some point in the future, for now, as many of us still do, we should carry a bunch of cards [nicely, professionally designed] to all meetings, seminars, etc., and even to social gatherings of any kind, because we never know who are we going to meet there…
Who knows, it could be a future employee, associate, boss, future spouse, etc. –plus whatever device we use the most to quickly exchange info with them.
Just imagine [happens to all of us] that you introduce yourself as a ‘President of Business Development’ at a well known company [Google, Facebook, etc.] and you do not have ANY business cards with you! –you instantly go from the ‘Prez’ to just a regular Joe Who?
Matt
Oh wow. They stole (or independently developed) my idea, right down to the “handshake” analogy.
http://www.crun....com/bff/?p=138
Guess I should have taken Craig’s advice.
It’s a shame dropcard wasn’t mentioned in this post. They are one of the first startups recently that I’ve seen created for this very thing. Keep a virtual vCard with your information and be able to send it to anyone via SMS or mobile web interface.
http://www.mydropcard.com/
DropCard is a fantastic service. I use it via SMS on my RAZR. It’s an extremely simple service. I wrote about it a few weeks ago:
http://cera.us/...-drop-the-card/
I’ll third that comment – DropCard should have been mentioned in this!
agreed mydropcard.com and retaggr.com should be there too although no sms yet for retaggr yet
i fifth the http://mydropcard.com mention. Have not used retaggr, but am avid user of DropCard
yet another http://www.mydropcard.com nomination from this guy. it’s saved me SO much time and I never look like a schmuck for forgetting cards, or not following up!
It’s amazing how iPhone doesn’t have some of the most basic functionality built it .. Nokia phones have had the ability to share business cards (contact info) via sms and bluetooth for years .. I mean even the cheap 50$ Nokia phones that you get here in India have that and its very commonly used since its been around for the last 7-8 years.
This experience of sharing contact info can certainly be improved though. I think the biggest element that it lacks is personalization .. business cards are a part of a person’s identity/brand and these virtual business cards need to include that aspect.
Well, I’d be more than satisfied if we could at least get the information across first, that would be a start…customizing would make a nice add-on then…!
They’re clumsy? What is that supposed to mean? They’re pieces of paper.
They’re easy to lose? When did pants stop sporting pockets?
Useless? Do the words fall off if the card is shaken or something?
And seriously? Trying to throw in the “it’s the green thing to do” line? Come on. That line is wearing thin.
Business cards are fine as they are. If one wants to take the time to put the information into a cell phone (and not every business card that is given is worth the time to do so), then it can be done quickly and easily.
This sounds very much like the arrogant boasting in the previous post, “Think Before You Voicemail”, (http://www.tech...-you-voicemail/). Just like in the previous post, a TechCrunch staff member wants everybody else to change because of a minor annoyance he’s facing.
Normal procedure: hand business card to potential client.
New procedure: get the client’s cell phone number, send a text message, and then have them send you a text message, but only if they’ve set up a profile on the site, because otherwise you’ll never get their info. You know what would work without any signups? A BUSINESS CARD.
This is a solution is search of a problem.
I say they’re clumsy because they’re inefficient and impossible to search through when you’ve got more than a few dozen. You need to either manually enter the data into a computer or buy a card scanner if you want to access the information.
Back in the day, I did some consulting work for a company (http://www.wizi...wiziway_en.html) that specialized in small 2D barcodes (a bit like QR-codes but proprietary) for document management pruposes.
One of their use cases was the printing of these codes on business cards. It was very small, so it did not distract much. You basically registered the code with them along with the contact info and when read with a device (proprietary as well…), another person could retrieve the information in digital form.
Due to the proprietary nature of the stack there was not a lot of success for it. But now that every phone has a pretty good quality camera suitable for barcode recognition, this is something that would be worth exploring again.
Are you really saying it’s literally impossible to search through more than a few dozen business cards without the aid of an iPhone? Is this how stupid Americans have become? Or is this merely (more) lazy writing and the dumbest idea yet to appear on this site — which says much. Isn’t there some Twitter news about which to breathlessly report?
@david:
I think one of the central things that drove our design of the product (I’m the CEO) is that while “hand business card to client” seems like the easiest thing in the world to do, you often don’t “get business card back from client” (think sales rep, realtor, pr person). And even when you do, the information you actually want isn’t always there.
The business card also lacks trackability (”did I respond to that person? did they add me to their address book?”) and social network connectivity (”which Jason Kincaid is he again?”). By bridging the gap, we eliminate those steps, making the connection more robust and significantly faster.
That, at least, is our hope. We know that we won’t replace the business card overnight – but we’re on our way.
-Gabe
agree with David H. The mobile/app biz card idea is great. But biz cards will remain an option for many moons to come. Keep all options open. Carry cards, and use the new method as well, then you’re networking in person with everyone, not just your iPhone buddies.
I agree with both David and Gabe (but not with Jason).
There are undoubtedly lots of transactions in which someone hands over a card simply in the hope of ending up in the handee’s contact list, and that’s also what the handee wants. (Gabe’s point.) For these, an electronic version of that transaction has advantages.
There are a lot of cases where it’s more ambiguous: the handee isn’t necessarily on board, the handee doesn’t have the tech handy, the hander’s gizmo broke down, and so on. For all these cases, existing business cards are a great medium (David’s point).
I personally would love a situation in which people with boring, stupid business cards tossed about e-versions instead, and people with compelling business cards still used them — as calling cards, so to speak. “Awesome. Take my card, get in touch if you feel like it.” — if the card is good, that’s a very powerful human interaction. If the card is crap, I’d rather have you beam me the data.
bravo David H. Thank you.
Sometimes paper works. Has for thousands of years. Paper will be around long after your CD/ DVD backups have all but been rendered unreadable.
I TOTALLY agree with David H.’s comments. I’m all for innovation and interesting solutions to problems but the business card just doesn’t fit into that category.
Every now and then the Silicon Valley folks need to step out of their Tech bubble and interact with non-Tech folks to understand how the vast majority of the population works.
I enjoyed your article but have to completely disagree. Should we get rid of the handshake as well?
BA – I am afraid so, although it would not happen soon enough… Unfortunately, hand shakes are one the best ways for us to get all kind of nasty germs that may cause skin problems, eye infections, etc. –Sorry gals and guys, but I work in the medical field and deal with this stuff every single day. Yes, I have to wash my hands and average of 150 times a day…
Matt
I think Matt’s probably kidding, or at least half-kidding, but bring it on… if all the germophobes of the world simply opted out of human contact, there’d be that much more for the rest of us.
Yes. Look out for Arrington’s article tomorrow, “We need to kill the handshake, Facebook pokes via the iPhone are good enough”.
At which point commenters would have to point out that the original point of a handshake is to make sure your contact isn’t hiding knives up his sleeves to stab you with, and lots of other things the iPhone can’t do.
(yes, I know that’s almost certainly not really true, but it’s a cute explanation. keep your Snopes links to yourself.)
are you trying to impress arrington or something? they don’t need to die, they just need to be used less… are you going to leave you phone on a counter in an office so that people may “shake” it and get your info?
Really? Kill the business card?
That would be really inconvenient for someone who works with consumers who can’t afford an iPhone or any other fancy smartphone, or who aren’t as immersed in this world of tech like we all are.
Dumbest title for a blog post ever.
Handing and receiving a business card takes less than one second. Am I really to go around a conference room of 12 people and ask each and every one of them to take out their cell phones and sync with me? If we connect on an airplane and your have your cell phone off, am I to wait 5 hours when we land before giving you my contact information? And if someone who works for me wants to pass along my information at a conference, can you send other peoples information out?
Business cards are short term networking tools; not something that are typically saved.
I’d love to sit there and have you try and have someone tell your their email address in a loud social setting; especially hard to spell first name DOT really hard to spell last name @ some strange domain DOT COM. Just silly and unnecessary.
Ideally we’d have a proximity-based system that could add multiple contacts at once. And I don’t know what you mean about short term networking tools, many people need to refer to their contact lists years down the line.
I throw business cards into a drawer next to my desk, never to be looked at again. Here’s a picture:
Well, that’s what you do…just like _you_ wish someone else would do your e-mail for you…! But not all people take that approach…
You should hire an internet to scan those all in with NEAT Receipts and convert them all to vcard.
Well, that’s the problem — you can either just ignore all that information you have collected or you can make use of it…!? But some people are way too busy, I guess…
By ‘internet’ I meant ‘intern’ if it wasn’t obvious.
Mike:
That’s exactly the reason we developed rmbrME. I meet a lot of people (though probably not as many as you), and I just got fed up with the waste and aggravation of cards. We may not be at 100% on the solution quite yet, but we’re definitely going to get there.
-Gabe
Uhm, ignoring that it just seems lazy and disorganized to clutter up a whole drawer of cards, I still don’t really get it — why exactly is your approach better than just exchanging vCards via Bluetooth, for instance…?! Something that every modern cell phone (except for the JesusPhone) can do with ease…?
I really don’t mean to nag, I’m just trying to understand the concept…
Gabe — Good luck, man! It is an interesting concept, but it is an idea looking for a market. I hope that you guys have enough funding because, sorry, I can see the ramp to the dead pool getting closer.
Again, I do not want to hurt your feelings, but your site’s design really, really sucks! It looks cheap and, unfortunately, it will not help you with the concept.
Mike – “I throw business cards into a drawer next to my desk, never to be looked at again” OK, but you know, I do exactly the same. You may have enough money that at this point in your life you do not need more contacts, including friends…
My desk drawer looks like yours –the difference? In the past two months I was able to dig out two of these old bcards from execs I met at [af all places] cookouts. To make a long story short, these contacts’ companies have become our clients and will pay us for services [six figures] until the end of the year…
Matt
Obviously those business cards are of no interest to you, otherwise they would’ve ended up somewhere else.
I bet if you organize them on a rolodex, and keep that on your desk you wouldn’t sound so desperate for this solution to a non-existent problem.
Having a bunch of cards in front of you is a whole lot better than a pile of them in a drawer or in the contacts list of your iCrap
peace!
Why store them? Thus would suggest you plan one day to go back through them. Think you are so cute huh?. The fact is cards like print newspaper will be around another 100 years, so no need to worry about it. Of course technology does not hurt either, so use them both.
By the way, I like the new set up. I smell a US$60 million acquisition/marriage. Is this your wedding dress? The new website layout? You know some say marriage is a form o prostitution. Or was that Karl Marx?
Mike, I am almost similar in use of business cards…except I often just add email address to my address book and just get rid of the cards anyway. First, its tough to store and find them when needed and you can search physical cards
If you can’t search, you can use ‘em.
So the vast majority of people you exchange cards with are five minute conversations you don’t care to continue. Fair enough. How would it be different if they gave you a vcard, or friended you? Wouldn’t you just put them on “fake follow” and forget them anyway?
Why not just add a link to your profile on the business card? Best of both worlds. Isn’t the whole point of LinkedIn that you can keep track of people who change jobs all the time? Speed dial is for people you talk to all the time, not everybody with something to sell.
“My god! it’s full of cards!” (Lame 2001 reference)
Recycle?
While I do wish there was some standardized way for the tech-savvy among us to exchange vCards etc. wirelessly and that Apple would support and allow that I totally agree with the last few comments — the classic business card has its place and its purpose…! “Killing it” makes no sense, but there should be alternatives for those who’d like to use them…
I agree that the cards should have been gone a long time ago. I have collections of them that seem to follow me around for years, I moved not to long ago and still I kept them all. It may be more of a mental thing because that is the way some of us grew up doing business.
i think it’s a good idea to get people just exchanging info by typing it into their phone. all you really need is somebody’s email or phone.
Or both…and their name, of course…and many times their company…and that’s when it becomes tedious…!
Has anyone thought through the implications on one of the largest industries sector users of business card?? –
the real estate industry
- they collectively must get through millions per day – their face is their brand and they would be reticent to withdraw from this “as judged by them” most effective form of marketing – if you want a laugh about real estate agents and their face on cards have a read of this post from real estate blog in New Zealand
we need move away from sms since att only gives us 200 per month w/ min plan.
martin-english.com It links to my blogs and SocNets. I dont make a CV readily accessible, because I like to focus these on the job requirements.
here, I’ll make it even easier for you martin-english.com
I can print it on a card for the no / lo tech. I can spell it out over the phone. The smart ones might even google me
The one ommission is a vCard – based on the comments above I will find out how to add one.
vCard might be good – or at least hCard… and losing the non-existent HTML tags like </BR>
and there I thought that FriendBook was FriendFeed’s app on Facebook!!!!
Not everyone in business lives and dies by their phone’s functionality.
You guys need to get out of the valley more. The business card, and your other page view bloating proclamation about voicemail, is not going away any time soon. You do realize that most business people only use their phone for voice calls and e-mail? Most business people don’t even belong to a “social network.”
Typically, I take someone’s biz card, add them to linkedin, and put the card in pile. Why would I even bother with another service?
Absolutely agree. As much as I love apps, this sounds more like a solution trying to find a problem. Business cards are many years, if not decades, from being obsolete to the larger world outside of Silicon Valley. Sometimes low-tech is good enough.
Hmmh, I think I just found another flaw in the concept — the service relies on SMS texting and thus only seems to be working within the USA…!? So if any of you come over here to Germany for IFA or CeBIT, maybe you should stuff a few paper cards in your pockets anyway…!?
I understand that the title of this article is meant to grab attention, and it worked. Heck, I’m reading it. However the concept that business cards should be eliminated in the near future is ridiculous.
I agree there are better ways to share contact information if both parties are tech savvy, or at least tech literate. But keep in mind that many of the people that you want to share contact info with are not tech savvy.
I think that there is a market for the companies listed here. I just don’t think it will replace the need for the business card, which has often been dubbed the ‘most important marketing tool you can use’.
As far as beaming information around, I’ve done that with palm based devices and it works in certain applications. However in a crowded room or when you are meeting a few people, it is easier and faster to simply hand them a card versus fumbling with phones or sending a text message. If you are meeting someone for the first time, do have to ask them for their phone number to send them a text message so that you can send them your phone number? Seems clumsy. I’m probably missing something.
Eventually, business cards will go away. I think it will require some sort of standard to be set. Everyone will have to be able to participate with the new method very easily. Companies like the ones listed in this article are a good start. I just hope that they are not too early.
If someone passes a business card to me, I copy the info down into my contact database and put the card some where. If the card gets lost after that, who cares.
I agree that having an SMS solution would be best, but it does beget problems for those without an iPhone or smartphone.
I still don’t see the advantage of incorporating an additional service for something the devices you are using are capable of doing by themselves…!? Or at least should be…
Why would I prefer texting some special number, so that the info gets routed to the other person’s e-mail or whatever to just simply “beaming” over my vCard while he/she does the same…?! Sorry, I don’t get it…
P.S. Not only is it faster and more convenient to just exchange vCards between the devices, it’s also cheaper, considering you have to pay an SMS text every time you wanto to use such a service…!? It may not be that much, but it can add up anyway…
It’s so sad and blind for you to say business cards have to die.
In the non-techie world, business cards are quite important. It is a chance to show off yourself in this simple little card. It is an expression of you in an economical form. Just talk to artists, crafters, artisans. Check out moocards. Those cards are not going to look the same as your generic big corporate card with logo, black text on boring white stock.
This is like saying canvas has to die because people can just photoshop.
If a card I get looks good, I enjoy looking at it. I would even put it on my corkboard to admire. They’re like little pieces of art.
Not everyone’s got an iphone to “wave” around either.
Yes, but in time what the early adopters use … the adoption cycle continues beyond these folks and into the mainstream.
Early adopters Facebook 2004/05 now in 08 Facebook is mainstream..to use as example.
“This is like saying canvas has to die because people can just photoshop.”
Great example, Karen.
Maybe eventually Bcards will be obsolete, but don’t hold your breath…it’s a long time off…
BS. The business card does not need to die. It’s survived so long because it serves it’s role quite well. I for one am happy to keep this old-school solution in place. E-cards are fine too. They can and will co-exist.
There’s so much more information you can put on an online profile than you can fit on a business card, no matter what font you use or how creatively your arrange it. If you do end up doing business with someone who handed you a card, don’t those names and numbers end up in your phone/computer anyway? If a service like this opens up possibilities to connect with other business owners in the same way social networking has allowed me to meet people I may have never ran into otherwise, I think it’s a great idea.
interesting.
the tech crowd is so quick to jump into technologies, indeed.
the same group that praised selling pet products online in the mid 90s.
But for the most part, atleast for the foreseeable future…business cards, in general – within all businesses…is not going anywhere
I think soon we will all be prodded to walk around naked with nothing but an iPhone, since it will serve all of our business and entertainment needs. The manufacture of clothing, like most other products, in some way harms mother earth, so it should be eliminated. We should also consider moving to climate-friendly California, where temperatures enable a ‘naked but iPhone’ lifestyle. I do fear the unintentional bumping and rubbing on public transportation though.
vCard has long been the answer, however, better UI is needed to encourage the exchange.
Absolutely NOT! We NEED business cards. In a digital world that we live, we consume too much digital content on a day. Business cards are a way to stand out.
I remember doing this over a decade ago – with my PALM PILOT.
@ Jeff C:
rofl.
well at home…i like to wear as little as possible…i guess i’m halfway converted already.
Karen:
Just remember that when rolling on floor laughing … make sure safety comes first.
This article and the comments made me think of something else. I think everyone should have an email address they keep forever. I know that’s impossible if a company fails, but with Google’s Gmail, I think I will have the same email address for a very, very long time. If I gave an email address to someone on a business card or in any other way, it’s nice to know that they will still be able to contact me years from now if I am still using the same email address. There’s something very Great Expectations/Dickensian about the idea that you can still track down someone you haven’t seen in a very, very long time. That person may have moved and changed phone numbers, but he will hopefully still be using someone@gmail.com as his email address. If Magwitch needed to email Pip to tell him he had some money for him, it would be nice if Pip were still using the same Pip@gmail.com email address.
Business cards should die simply because all machines using paper and ink, thus hurting the environment and not being cost effective, should die. However, what if there was a machine that recycled paper perfectly, meaning it didn’t require that much money to recycle the paper, and the costs were all covered by advertising (this kind of makes think of a Google April Fool’s Joke)? Would everyone go back to using paper since the argument that it hurt the environment could not be used anymore? I guess you could still use the litter argument, but maybe the recycling company would pay you to bring the paper in since the amount of money they are making in advertising covered the costs of recycling the paper, and they could sell the new recycled paper at a profit. That would encourage people to bring in every scrap of paper they found around town.
There is an article in TIME about how even housewives are creating business cards for themselves to give away at social events. They like the traditional aspect of the business card, combined with the ease of getting it out of a purse and handing it to someone. They don’t have to worry about turning on a cell phone, hitting the wrong number, etc.
Articles like this one, saying business cards should die, are fun, but everyone would have to be technologically literate to really make this idea work, and we are still many decades from that (unfortunately).
I can’t wait until all humans develop telepathic abilities to wear they can just think of who they need to talk to and that person will be able to communicate with them instantly (an idea Kramer mentioned one time on Seinfeld). Of course, then there will be tons of security issues so let’s hope that idea doesn’t come true.
WOW! — What are you smoking man????
as usual. the idiotic jason kincaid strikes again. seriously man, you need to be kicked out off TC. a physical businesscard has it’s pros and cons. same thing with the virtual one. so dont come concluding that business cards need to die! why dont you just die?! Moron. You know what they said that about newspapers, books and magazines a few years back. You know what they’re still here to stay.
my business cards work when my cell phone is dead.
sorta like magazines, why not have paper and online editions?
Michael, a few years ago I asked a marketing honcho at Palm why did had never done a “beaming party.” His response was they once did it at a developer event.
With everyone hating Microsoft and Apple nowhere in sight, Palm blew a huge opportunity to be the default phone, had they just simply popularized beaming at all offline singles events. Imagine the possibilities!
i’ve been using rmbrme since it first launched (was a beta user) and i like it. unlike business cards, you can’t lose a contact when store the info on your mobile, its easy to use, and connects very well with social networks like facebook and linkedin. it’s a service that will be far more valuable once it hits a critical mass (and it appears to be growing pretty fast), but so far, so good.
rmbrme.com – their domain name is absolutley horrible.
The concept, the domain name and the site design all suck big time.
Check it out: it seems like the site was designed by Gabe’s mother in law: the background looks like the fake, totally outdated wood paneling my uncle had in his basement… I can almost smell it.
Gabe and Jason must be smoking some really bad Mexican weed.
Joe
Gotta say that I still appreciate and enjoy the traditional cards, yet this is one new app (even for a gadget I don’t own) that I think is pretty outstanding.
New technologies are fun and it’s handy to transfer biz information electronically, but people still interact human-to-human (and that’s good!) and handing out a biz card is a social thing. It’s also a chance to show your chops as a designer and someone who has some expertise in print media. A good biz card can be a mini work of art.
@Dianne, thank you! We all need to be reminded that human-to-human interaction is still good.
BTW, who are you meeting with? Unruly chimps from outer space???
In addition to how rmbrME makes it seamless to exchange info with a new contact, I saw how people were impressed with the ‘wow’ factor – it sets you apart from all the folks exchanging business cards at a conference or networking event. And that makes you more memorable to the people you meet. As such, you end up exchanging info with more people. Once everyone starts using services like rmbrME this won’t be as much of an advantage anymore, but in the meanwhile being one of the first to use this service has a coolness factor that felt to me a hint of what it was like being one of the first people to have the new 3G iPhone.
Who invented the business card anyway? Does anyone know? What was the earliest form of a business marker contact/business card?
They are also known as calling cards and some people used to carry them to provide simple contact information. As much as some people would like to see business cards go, I have to ask a question: are people asking for yours? If you’re just an employee, grinding away for someone else, then you’re right about not having any need for a business card. However, the majority of the professional world still prefers the business card simply as a means of connection. I see someone walking up to me, wanting to beam me their vCard, as a human spammer. Someone who walks up to me with their card, on the other hand, I see as a person.