Last summer, I wrote a lengthy rant against business cards, calling them “virtually useless as one of the last bits of information that we pass non-digitally”. Ten months later, I couldn’t agree with myself more. Just like the handshake, the business card is an annoying relic of the past. Each card I get joins a ridiculously large pile on my dresser that has become effectively useless (the only exception are the cards made out of beef jerky). Sure, I could get a business card scanner and digitize them, but the point is that I shouldn’t have to.
Bump Technologies is a mobile application developer that’s looking to offer a solution, allowing users to transfer their contact information simply by tapping their phones together. And things are looking bright for the small startup — the company has just raised a seed funding round from Y Combinator, and is quickly building up a sizable user base.
Bump currently offers an application on the iPhone, with plans to release apps for Android and other mobile smart phones in the near future. Using the app is fairly straightforward: you launch Bump (as does the person who you’d like to swap information with) and tap your phones together. Once their accelerometers are activated, the phones both relay their current location data to the cloud, and Bump’s servers determine when there’s a match. Finally, a photo of the contact you’re pairing with shows up on your screen, and you confirm that you’d like to exchange data. It may sound a bit complicated, but it only takes a few seconds. Bump isn’t the first application to do this (Tapulous’s Friend Book has been doing this since soon after the App Store’s launch), but it’s a good idea nonetheless.
At this point there are some obvious flaws — if you don’t have a cellular connection, it won’t work, though Bump plans to fix this is an upcoming version by also allowing users to transfer data using the iPhone’s Peer-to-Peer Bluetooth functionality. And for the time being you can only share data with users that have an iPhone and have the Bump app installed, which leads to a classic chicken-and-the-egg problem.
That said, Bump is off to a good start. The app currently has 940k users, and 140k of them have already upgraded to the new update in the two days since its release, which means a significant number of them are very active. The latest version adds the ability to transfer photos along with contact info, and Bump will eventually allow you to transfer any kind of data — eventually, it will even allow you to transfer money, which could be huge.
I’m glad Bump, as well a few other companies like Nameo and Me2, are seriously trying to solve this problem. But frankly it’s ridiculous that phone manufacturers can’t agree on a wireless standard for quick data transfer that just works, without any extra applications or an annoying pairing process (seriously, Palm worked this technology out ten years ago). It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon though, so Bump may well have a bright future ahead of it.
That is nice and all but isn’t the majority of the population still the older category. Don’t they hae most of the money… aren’t they the ones who still prefer business cards..
Hmm… seems like older generations still in the business world are buying iPhones… with their money
I’m excited for the future of this app, splitting up the lunch bill by exchanging currency
This is a silly app. These people are delusional if they think they’ll be able to change business etiquette. Business card is a PERFECT piece of marketing and a PERFECT extension for your identity.
I thought so too, when I first heard the idea. Then I used it, and now I absolutely love it. It’s freakin’ awesome. I can’t stop bumping people (I know that sounds ridiculous, but it really is a cool way to exchange contact info in a group). Granted, I am below the age of 50, and every one of my friends also has an iphone, so I may be a bit biased.
“Bumping” sounds retarded. I don’t see people “bumping” ever gain any steam. It’s simply stupid.
“Business card is a PERFECT piece of marketing and a PERFECT extension for your identity.”
I loved how American Psycho explored this idea …
But seriously: A business card may look nice, but I need all the data on it in digital form: the phone number in my phone(s), the address in my database, URL in my browser, e-mail in my mail client etc. There are few things more annoying than typing them all in after a show.
(Yes, I could get a card scanner, but as Jason said, in the 21st century, I shouldn’t need to.)
Phone and software manufacturers alike should be ashamed that this problem hasn’t been solved by now. Exchanging contact data using whatever technology or device is available at the moment (phones, PDAs, computers, infra-red, Bluetooth, the Cloud…) should be as natural as calling a phone number: One click should move all data to the places where they are required.
So yeah, the app as such may be silly – because it should not be necessary.
But exchanging little pieces of paper with data that was created digitally and has to be re-digitized to be useful is *much* sillier.
even simpler…. normal business card with Tag or other standard 3D barcode on the back, and phone with a camera can read, decode and store and either throw the card away or return it.
Heck, print the barcode on the back of your phone and then when you point them at each other they can swap cards.
Or, as you suggested, get to where Palm where years ago with a reliable way of beaming contacts (FWIW it worked between Palm and Windows Mobile as well)
Just do what I did: http://twitpic.com/93hrt.
I agree it’s silly, but it’s a very useful silly app.
Would be great to see YC alumni adopt. After that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it take off in select circles and grow from there.
Included among those tackling this issue is “e” – http://mynameise.com, winner of The Rising Sun Startup Rally at The Next Web conference in Amsterdam this April. Check them out!
And what about the other billion non smartphone users.
Why not just get all phone/pda/mp3 player etc manufacturers to all use the same system inwhich you could enter your info during setup of said device and send to whomever by the press of a key; why go through knocking your phone against someone’s.
There should be a way people can trade info regardless of if they have phones or smartphones.
Whats wrong with handshakes btw
This is absurd. Business cards are incredibly valuable. There’s no platform issue, no compatibility issues, and almost no cost. You can drop it and it won’t break. You can give it away generously and it costs almost nothing. Yes, an iphone to iphone business card application would be better, but 3 guys at a luncheon with an iphone, an windows mobile phone, and blackberry cannot pass electronic business cards. It’s downright ridiculous to say business cards are “virtually useless as one of the last bits of information that we pass non-digitally” – this is just stupid and youthful. I wonder if you’ve ever passed or received a business card.
Vcard. It’s standard on every cellphone since at least 1999. Every smartphone, except maybe the iPhone, supports the vCard.
And they can be sent wireless using IR, Bluetooth (vcard exchange shouldn’t require pairing unless the implementation on your phone is broken) or simply send it by SMS.
IBM worked on a “personal area network” 10-15 years ago which would allow devices to use the human body as conductor. It wasn’t fast but it was enough to swap vcards during a handshake. (Ie, your phone is in your pocket, and connects to the other persons phone during the handshake.)
I pass my virtual biz card out everyday. Works on Phones, Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Android. It’s Internet-based and instantly updatable. There’s an iPhone app that allows for direct calls to whichever telephone number I choose at that instant (to be followed by similar apps for other platforms).
It’s simple and cheap. There are built in privacy levels so some people get more contact info than others, such as my personal email address and home address.
This virtual business card is my last name. Followed by .tel
What’s ridiculous is the situation you describe – three guys with devices from Apple, Microsoft an RIM that won’t talk to each other. It borders on insanity. All that would be required is a dead-simple, UTF-8/XML-based format for contact data that every software (PIM, mail client, CRM) and communication hardware (phone, PDA, maybe even a hypothetical “digital business card clip”) in the world could send, write and read. hCard, vCard – whatever. This should be standardized, but as usual, the big guys try their best to ensure your data stays in their silos.
“At this point there are some obvious flaws — if you don’t have a cellular connection”
how about if you don’t have a phone at all?
Not a bad concept but why do they have to bump hands? I see no point for this.
I wonder if they were inspired by the Barack and Michelle Obama fist bumbs.
really well done. but unfortunately i’m going to have to side with steven on this one. fifty years from now it seems like people will still hand out business cards of some sort, in the same way that a hand-written letter makes a better impression than an email. reminds me of the business card exchange scene in american psycho (http://www.yout...h?v=qoIvd3zzu4Y)
however, i would use this aggressively if it was swapping facebook IDs with people. then i’d use it when out. a lot.
but never in a business setting.
Thank you for that video, it hilariously makes the point.
“pale nimbus” -> Can someone send me samples please?
I must call our card designer and ask her which white she used. I have already scheduled a two-hour meeting for next week to re-analyze this critical corporate presence issue.
Many great comments here, to a refreshing extent. While this is technology related, the debate causes many otherwise highly technical people to drop their usual concerns about bandwidth, IPO funding, market share, and get back to basics in a family picnic style conversation.
While other individuals can do what is comfortable for them, (I do not have a PDA and rarely use my cell) I am not going to be walking around staring at an electronic device and tinkering with tools to market to the next person I meet while at the next LinkedIn networking event. I want to look people in the eye, see their expressions, shake their hand (Michael you scared us on the anti-shake post), and hand them my business card. Even if all business after that is electronic, the initial “manual” conversation is invaluable to me in sizing up peoples’ wants, needs, and approach to life.
They might want to rethink their logo – shades of goatse anyone?
Contxts is much simpler and doesn’t have the chicken and the egg problem, just text a username to 50500 and get a person’s contact info texted immediately back to you. Done. I’ve been using it for a few months now and always is a crowd pleaser.
Cute idea, yet I remember the old days of the Plam Pilot and ‘beaming’ my contact info to someone else. While this concept was novel, I still have a large box of business cards that have remained ever since and will likely continue to remain until I retire.
Michael – as for the handshake, what ever happened to a little bit of personality, via a good old-fashioned firm handshake.
I support technology as an enabler of our lives and culture (started work at Wired in ‘95), yet think the handshake should remain.
Cheers.
what is new here ? I have been doing this for year from my Sony Ericcsson P910i (available in Europe and India). I can pass my contact information to any one using blue tooth or SMS . My contact information had all the details of the business cards.
OMFG, somebody had me draw up a business plan for the very same thing LOL. I guess it didn’t go anywhere.
Nice tech. I saw something funny in my inbox today
http://revenueb...amp.garage.com/
Panel
Will Anyone Pay for Anything?
9:00am – 9:45am
“Guy Kawasaki – Moderator. Garage Technology Ventures ”
Needless to say I’m turning down the invite. I’m not driving all night long for 6 hours Thursday after work to go to some revenue conference.
I am going to Twiistup though, just the bar mixer. I don’t wanna hear Jason Calcenus speak. I would pay not to. But that’s besides the fact. If you want to, come talk to me there. Look for a guy that has “CDN” something on his badge. I met tons of cool people there last year.
bump technologies,
this is definitively a great idea that can go viral. however, you could approach it in a different way in order for it to go mainstream.
best of luck,
d.
But what will we drop in the fishbowl for a chance to win free lunches?
Seriously, the tech is interesting, and a seamless way to easily send P2P data would be nice, but this has a long road to adoption outside of the tech community.
I’ll try the app, though.
What planet do you TC idiots live on? Get out of your insular world and see how real people do things and stop raving about dumb products that solve problems that don’t exist.
“The app currently has 940k users, and 140k of them have already upgraded to the new update in the two days since its release”
I doubt it has that many users. It’s a BS stat. Look at their compete/alexa numbers. Yeah, yeah, it’s a mobile app from app catalog etc etc etc but even an app that has 100K downloads has at least 5K in uniques.
So this is just BS marketing.
this just became my favorite iphone app.
Most of the world doesn’t happen in Silicon Valley. This is just an impossibility, at least in the next five years.
Mike,
But you hate shaking hands. This gay/gangsta “bump” gesture involves touching.
Personally, I think it’s better to just email your contact info or transmit it without touching at all.
Dude, get a girlfriend. Seriously. that handshake thing of yours is just plain sad.
And this kind of thing ain’t gonna succeed in like the next 20 years… Palm tried to do it 10 years ago and we still use those little cards. Just saying, eMail didn’t go mainstream until 20 years after.
BTW, does this thing support vCard (http://en.wikip....org/wiki/VCard)? ’cause that’s the only way this app is going somewhere.
I’ve played with this app… very cool stuff
I wish the video had the bayom, bayom, bayom music – like from porn movies.
So when going to be able to get rid of this whole hand shake thing, cause I’m sick of it.
And don’t even talk to me about the hugs.
This app is great!
It works, it is simple, and it eliminates a hassle we all deal with, adding new contacts/info to your phone. I would challenge those that do not think this app is worthwhile to sit down with 10 business cards and type in ALL of the card info into their phone, numbers / email / addresses. Personally I do not find that fun or a productive use of time. I’d rather bump and be done.
Plus I like to introduce others to the app. No one minds downloading it and trying it out, it’s fun. Once they try it, they are hooked too. Also, if bump eventually adds on functionality to friend and follow [facebook / twitter] even better.
so… it takes almost 30 seconds to do swap contact info?
isn’t it faster to just swap cards. What if you meet a small group of people? 2 minutes doing the iphone show?
plain stupid
Not impressed, Japaneses cellphones have been doing that for almost a decade now.
Business cards – they ain’t broke, so why fix them?
when are we going to have a BUMP OF MONEY? just bump your iphone to a reach guy and poops: you are bumped with the money!
but VCs are doing it for years, actually.
It’s also not going to work where there’s no GPS – ie inside most buildings. It could triangulate cell signal, but that’s nowhere near accurate enough for a conference centre holding, say, 4000 people.
good idea but crap usability; try again
So we have Bump and Poken. Both follow a nice idea but there still are flaws. Poken: to big, looks like some hello kitty accessory and the website is not exactly brilliant. But it only takes a few seconds to exchange contact data and it is platform-independent. Bump on the other hand is rather unstable and you have to be in the same w-lan to exchange contacts and so far it only works on the iPhone. And it is not fast nor convenient at all. I’d say merge to two concepts and you’ll have a rather nice tool to exchange contacts.
All this bump’ing and pok’ing is making me someth’ing.
why do note send your contacts by SMS:
http://servlets...act-mshare.html ?
it is 100% portable
The apps will work with different platforms? So an iPhone can Bump an Android phone?
Or it’s only Android on Android action?
Mikie, handshake bring in ‘personality’ in meeting people.
People do not talk in trains, or public places anymore. everyone has his iPod or Phone to play with. Now the oly relic we have in communication with stranger you want thrown away? Very soon people will stop talking at meet ups because the say almost the same thing to everyone..”why not record the damn pitch and send it via bluetooth”..:)
I agree business cards are cumbersome but in reality, a VAST majority will not use digital business cards in 10 years, y? because the rest of the world is not Silicon Valley or Japan.
As for Handshakes, you use them to access the confidence of a man
.. I will be shaking you when I see you!
Aw heck, if you’re gonna touch phones then exchange crypto public keys too huh
Bump is nice. But the user experience sucks. Have you guys in the states seen My Name is E? Their cards have social networking integration and they support all phones. Not just iPhone. Just a heads up – http://www.mynameise.com
Awesome app, I like this you bump another persons phone and away it goes. The app on your phone uses the phone’s sensors to literally “feel” the bump, and it sends that info up to the cloud. The matching algorithm listens to the bumps from phones around the world and pairs up phones that felt the same bump. Then we just route the contact information between the two phones in each pair.
Now is the app free???? if not why not give some copies away at http://www.appgiveaway.com
If you like Bump, you’ll love Presto. It automatically updates contact information in a user’s phone book when a shared contact changes their information. It also alerts you when people change their info via text and sends contact info for anyone to any network. It’s available in the App store now. Check it out.
http://www.SpartX.com will solve all of your business card needs virtually and tangibly.
Check it out
Cheers,
Steve
I never thought this could be such a crowded space now…
Anyway I believe a solution to replace business card is required. Not because exchanging cards is a problem, but because of the pain to input all the contact details to your favorite apps.
In that sense SpartX is a very smart approach.
The ultimate solution is still to have contact details exchange built-in mobile phones… the Irony is that *it is already*!!!
Bluetooth is supposed to do exactly that, except phone manufacturers have been too lazy to implement an usable UI on most phones.
Such a shame imho.
Pierre
Android already has a free app that lets people easily share contact info. The Barcode Scanner app (http://www.andr...arcode-scanner/) can take a photo of a barcode, search the web for its product info, and display pricing in local stores.
This app can also take a photo of a person’s own 2D barcode that points to his contact info. The app then gives you the option of adding this contact info to your phone. It is a popular app in the Android community. (http://googlemo...ndroid-now.html)
As long as people percieve not having a business card as being unprofessional or downright rude things will stay as they are. I seriously doubt that a start up has enough juice to change a perception embedded in the public opinion such as this.
These guys should start playing the environmentalist card soon, business cards kill trees for no reason-thats a fact they can use.
Whats with you Crunch writers and the fear of touching people? I know some good counselors — they may even have facebook pages!
No touching!
First of all, if you won’t shake my hand and look me in the eye when I meet you then I will not trust you and will never do business with you.
Second, a business card is an INTRODUCTION. It is an extension of you, your business and your personality. Data, in and of itself cannot do that. So while I am subsumed by technology out of modern day necessity, I still use a business card that can instantly give my clients a feeling about me as a person, and about the calibre of my business.
Yeah, I don’t think so. So If I have an iPhone I can trade info with another iPhone user, but I have an HTC so I can’t exchange with an iPhone person. So then I should only do business with like minded people? I can enter a stack of cards into my phone is just a few minutes and leave out all those cards belonging to people I don’t care to ever connect with again. “But”, you say, “you can always delete the people you want to get rid of and add a note about who the person is” So if I have to do that what am I saving. Not time. This is clearly an iPhone thing, I am convinced that the iPhone is not better (far from it) its just more glitzie, as is this kind of thing. For those of us that use smartphones to do work I think I’ll stick with paper.
Try contxts.com – an alternative i’ve been using for a while – you get my card by texting my handle to a short code. couldn’t be easier. i like bump too, but something like contxts is much more practical/faster/universal.
I happen to value the look of my business card and I want my client to see my company logo, branding, etc…
And since I’m over 21, I would rather “fist-bump” everyone I meet – -particularly in a business setting.
I recommend SnapDat – it’s simple, it’s fast and it allows me to digitally share an exact replica of my business card along with all the data. And I can use it to send to anyone – even if they don’t have SnapDat or an iPhone
Quite honestly, you’re focusing too much on the business card comparison. It’s just a simple way to exchange data – any data – and that in and of itself is valuable.
And, when you do still exchange business cards, it’s helpful to use Bump to make adding contact information to your phone more convenient.
MobileMe and Bump are a great pair. One bump and the contact information is synced automatically between the could service and all my devices.