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No more business cards?

I subscribe to too many RSS feeds (via a nice RSS-to-email script on my email server), and every so often I go through and delete a pile of them. One of the most-deleted is 'VentureBeat', a log of who got funded, and who wants to be funded. Once in a while a really interesting post comes through, though, and I think this is one of those: Get rid of business cards.

I'm in favor of eliminating the practice of giving flakes of dead trees to people, and replacing them with cell phone contacts seems like a reasonable first step. This site promises to make that go a little more smoothly. I signed up, and included TechHui on my network list. Maybe if a few more people sign up we can get them to use the TechHui badge on the link.

Want to test it with me? Come to the Jelly tomorrow and we'll swap contact info.

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7 Comments

Comment by John on August 19, 2008 at 10:13pm: I like the concept but I am not sure about the implementation. They claim "the service will work particularly well for people who give speeches or meet a lot of contacts at trade shows. " This would be great because this is my #1 need for business cards.

However, they explain that to do an exchange you must, "Send a text message to 762763 with the mobile number or email of your exchange partner. " It's a common occurrence to give out cards to handful of people right after another. To take time to get their number or email, would take 5 to 10 times the time simply pulling out a traditional card. Thoughts?

Comment by Cameron Souza on August 21, 2008 at 9:06am: We definitely need to get rid of business cards, but I agree with John. This implementation isn't quite there. The iPhone approach mentioned in the article Kurt referenced sounds like the right approach. It should happen automatically when we shake hands, bow or {insert greeting ritual}.

Comment by Mika Leuck on August 21, 2008 at 9:38pm: I like the idea. I wonder how many trees go to business cards each year.

Comment by Laurence A. Lee on August 28, 2008 at 10:47am: Sounds like a lot of people are tuned into this idea. TechCrunch just ran an article along similar lines, and describes an iPhone app called FriendBook which works in this space.

I'm not convinced the business card will go away, except for Tech-Gadget Addicts who are married to their Blackberries and 3G networks.

When I lived in Silicon Valley, I bought a Palm V to "play with the peeps" when I was out and about. It was an easy way to exchange contact info, and I found people who had adopted the Palm all along the South Bay, and through most of San Francisco, especially at the JavaOne conventions.

At the time, the Palm V was a nice device, but I only really used it for maybe 2 years. Somewhere along that timeline, momentum was lost. Eventually, it got to the point where trying to exchange contact info via Palm was as acceptable as bringinging Zima to a college Kegger Party.

I agree that implementation is key. What I'd like to see is an Internet-Connected device that exchanges contact info and goes via 3G Network (or something) to add an entry in my Internet-based Contacts List. That way, I wouldn't need to screw around with sync'ing a mobile device with my desktop all the time.

That would make most sense to me, as everything's going online via RIA or Web2.0 anyway.

Comment by Bill Sodeman on August 29, 2008 at 11:19am: Business cards will live on... they're too convenient, and older managers are used to exchanging physical cards.

But I do think more people will use IR and Bluetooth to exchange contact info during the next 10 years. We will hit a tipping point eventually... but not in 2008.

Comment by John Wang on August 29, 2008 at 11:39am: I think it's a great idea, but implementation will take quite some more time. It's been in the works for the longest time. Remember the vCards that you can export out through Outlook and the like? I also feel that it's a way for an art or creative person to express their work. Oddly enough. Then, I'm not sure how many of you watched the movie American Psycho. But here's a scene dealing with business cards that this discussion reminded me of.

Comment by Bill Sodeman on August 29, 2008 at 12:00pm: You just can't get a watermark and raised lettering with a vCard. :)

No more business cards?

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