Slashdot Mirror
Is the Business Card Dead?
theodp writes "Attending SXSW, HBR's Susy Jackson was dismayed to find her beloved business cards no longer carried the cachet they did back in the day. Writes Jackson: 'I had a lovely conversation with two young entrepreneurs from New York and when it was time to part ways, I used that old line: 'Here, let me give you my card.' They both paused, looking unsure about whether or not I was serious. Then I saw the understanding wash over them. I was speaking a forgotten language. A business card. How precious.' And while Jackson appreciates the convenience of exchanging e-business cards, Twitter handles, and phone numbers (texting), she's still a softie for a good business card: 'Some cards are plain; others speak to their holders' personalities through odd trim sizes, quirky color schemes, or clever word play. Each will tell me something more about the person who gave it to me than I could have known from their contact info alone.' So, how telling are The Business Cards of Tech Giants?"
They may not carry much importance, but yes they still get passed around in meetings.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk
I'd say it's more of a easy and free note to yourself.
Nope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk
No way. I even had my own personal 'business' card made ($9 for 500 is good, right?) and they get me free lunches from places like Perkins and Dennys all the time.
That $9 has saved me at least $50 so far, and I get to carry card that says "Back off, man. I'm a scientist."
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
Business cards give you a quick and easy way to exchange all those bits of contact info. It's either that or we both sit and stare at our phones for a while typing in names and numbers etc.. making sure spelling is correct, etc.. With a business card, I hand it over and the actual details can be handled later. Obviously, if there was some standard way to hit a single button on phones and tap them together to exchange information, that would be easier - but at this point even everything like that just takes too much fiddling.
And while Jackson appreciates the convenience of exchanging e-business cards, Twitter handles, and phone numbers (texting),
And how exactly does a normal person hand someone new an 'e-business card' without spelling out your email address to them...?
The whole point of a business card is that I don't have to spell out my name, phone number, and email address to people in person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoIvd3zzu4Y
I can't believe Steve Wozniak's card wasn't mentioned:
http://isource.com/2009/08/14/steve-wozniak-has-awesome-business-cards/
Business Cards are still alive and well. They still contain exactly what they always did - who you are and how to get in touch with you. That second part just happens to include e-mail, twitter, web-site, etc.
Anecdotes aside, until we can shake our cell phones at one another and exchange contact cards then cardboard will continue to be the best way.
They probably paused and look at each other because they dont have a business card and they feel embarrassed.
Business cards are the best thing for doing business. You want that number to a person who you know can get you what you need. Simply get the business card and there you have it.
I still pass mine around but probably use ~50% of them for picking my teeth after a meal nowadays.
Trolling is a art,
In particular in East Asia, the exchange of business cards is more important. It is not something you just grab and stuff into your pocket. It is part of the formal introduction. You give and receive the card with both hands. You read it over, and comment on it. You store the card carefully. It is a matter of respect. Showing up to a meeting in Korea without business cards is like showing up without pants.
The exchange of formal credentials, whether letters of recommendation, letters of passage, ambassadorial appointments, charters, etc., has a long and distinguished history, in which business cards are one small part. It is understandable that this might disappear in the US at some time. Of course, in the US it apparently is not necessary for businessmen to wear socks either.
I just did a post on this actually because I too feel like business cards are important. I am young, but I realize the value in exchanging cards with someone and the importance of having them find it later to jog their memory. Technology is so advanced nowadays that you are right, its nice to get to know the person's personality a little bit more through the card. Shame on those "kids" for not making business cards when they are trying to network!!
Here is my post: http://thefinancialite.com/?p=473
Thanks!
I can't believe Bryce prefers Van Patten's business card to mine. :(
I remember the first time business cards were supposed to die. I was in a meeting at a trade show when someone offered to "beam" their virtual business card to me from their Palm Pilot PDA (remember those?). This must have been like 10, maybe 11, years ago. Has anyone beamed a business card to you recently in a meeting? I suspect not, unless you spend time with people who like using classic PDAs.
Has anyone not dealt with a big-wig who gives you their card? That card is access, not because of the information on it, but because it's proof that person wants to be contacted by you. A personal assistant will generally give you more credibility and access to their boss if you have the business card.
Anyone can give you a number, email address etc.
I'm starting up a computer servicing business here in California (no, not Silicon Valley), & I find business cards are convenient as a means of advertising, as well as an easy &/or classy way to give your number (or email or twitter or whatever) to all the nerd girls out there (all three of them!)
One would expect that the attendees of a software developer conference would be rife with early adopters of all things digital. Well, at PyCon this year, old school, dead tree business cards were alive and well. I don't think anyone there would have had the reaction described in the summary -- "A business card. How precious." If they're on the way out, it was not evident there.
Look at that subtle off white coloringâ¦the tasteful thickness of itâ¦oh my godâ¦it even has a watermark.
So...how do you give your contact information to strangers? People who may want to contact you? You just give them your twitter handle, spelling it out verbally, and watch over their shoulder as they add it? Isn't that annoying? I guess not. Don't tell me people do business on facebook, where no communications are secure. Wait, don't tell me...
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
This is the sort of story I expect from kdawson, the answer is no. I know of a printing press company that pretty much solely does business cards and they're fine. They're about as dead as customised stationary places, which is to say, they aren't dead
What's really sad is that 15 years ago, I could point my Palm at someone and trade contact info by pressing and holding a button. To this day, most Android phones STILL can't properly do bluetooth OBEX... and even if they could, I doubt whether they could exchange contact info with an iPhone.
I exchanged business cards with a dozen people. And I'm anti-social!
I worked for a stationery store that handled business card orders in house and through third party vendors. We got at least one order for them every day. We kept them on file for our customers so they could always order more or make changes in the future. This was 2 years ago. Trust me. They are far from dead.
when everyone had a Palm PDA. web solutions won't last IMO and NFC apps will be the next business card exchange mechanism.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
I have business cards but rarely use them, I tend to receive copious amounts of them but usually they get shoved in my front pocket and thrown away with other bits of trash at the end of the day. Normally if I want or need contact info I will just ask them for an email address and put it in my phone but for more formal meetings they are still useful. Lately I have been giving out usb thumb drives with my contact info printed on them, I've had more clients from those than any business cards I have ever handed out, apparently potential client are more likely to keep them.
Slashdot editors are really, really wearing out the tired, sensationalistic "Such and Such is Dead" headline.
Is the Business Card Dead?
The Death of BCC
Comics Code Dead
It's supposed to be dramatic and sensational but it's lazy and annoying; cut it out.
I remember beaming my contact info at church about eight years ago. It was always awkward and sort of a hit or miss if it would transfer correctly. We had to point them head to head at each other and ask if the other person was ready, then send it and hope that it sent successfully.
The great thing about business cards is the speed at which you can transfer the information to many people and the ability to have them in places where you aren't. Plus it's not a hassle, you can easily get someones information when they have to rush somewhere else after having chatted with them for 20 minutes. It's probably happened to everyone where you chat with someone for a while and then they get a phone call and have to get running.
Maybe NFC will bring back "beaming" your contact info again, but I doubt even that will replace th classing business card.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." [Thomas Jefferson]
Business cards don't find themselves running low on charge.
If you're proud of your work, a business card is a great way to give your contact info to someone whom you might want to date. I do it and it... ....has... never worked. Must be the business card is dead. Can't be my game.
I still have business cards. I'm probably getting some more next year - and I just got this box of 250 in October. And no, I don't do random mailings of business cards, or anything like that. I had out one to each client, and sometimes give a client a small stack to give to their clients.
-If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
No, the business card is not dead. How else do people transfer information? Scratch email addresses, phone numbers, etc. on napkins? Sure, there may be more info on business cards these days, but business cards are still absolutely necessary. And yes, once I email or get an email from a person once, I generally have their contact info forever (outsourced, backed up Exchange email living on a server), but I still need a business card to make that initial email contact.
In the article, the author implied that one of the people she was talking to put her email address in some gadget he was holding ("The other craned his neck to copy my email address into his Hashable account and instantly sent me his virtual business card instead."). But guess what... not everybody carries gadgets! On top of that, but you still have to deal with spelling everything correctly verbally, which often doesn't go well.
Business cards are still alive and well with anyone who actually does business.
I don't respond to AC's.
NFC might revive this trend, but I suspect the business card will endure for at least a little while longer because of its ease of use and relative economy (business cards just don't cost that much to produce and they're easy to carry around).
Back in the 60's they correctly predicted we'd all be using fusion reactors to power our future, we'd be eating our meals in pills, and we'd fly around on jetpacks or use hovercars.
That was when I knew the business card was dead, just like the fission reactor.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a crabfeed to attend to on the Moon.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I went to a networking event recently and, judging by the amount of business cards I took home, they aren't going anywhere in the near future. Maybe the people on the bleeding edge are doing away with the business card, but it's still a staple of businessmen (and women) everywhere.
Oh, a lesson in history from Mr. I'm my own grandpa.
Why don't the smartphone manufacturers build this into every phone, then there's no need to hand someone a card? I know there's the Bump app, but why should I have to count on someone having installed the same app as me just to transfer contact information?
I hate when I'm going out with a group of friends and we want to exchange cell phone numbers, we have to do the old "Call m number so I can get your number" routine and add contacts for everyone. It'd be much better if there was a standard protocol across all friends to allow this data sharing. You can make it reasonably secure by requiring confirmation on both phones. I hit the "Send personal contact" button, and everyone close to me sees "Incoming contact from Joe Blow, do you accept?", and when Jane accepts, I see "Jane Plane wants to accept your contact, ok to send it?" then my contact goes to Jane and only to Jane, not her creepy roomate standing nearby. It's not airtight security since someone could have their phone impersonate Jane Plane's phone, but it's only my phone number (and whatever else I choose to share) - it's not much less secure than saying out loud "Jane, call 510-555-1212 so I can get your phone number".
Exactly. Whichever two people she thought were "young and hip", were instead just young and new to the business world. Wait a second... she was at a music festival. If I was hanging out at Ozzfest I might be confused too if someone was trying to setup business contacts and give me their card.
I'm a software developer in my early twenties and lately I've had to meet some clients to provide some support for the sales people (who don't appear to understand what they're selling). In some of those meetings I've received a business card (or several!) for... what? I've already seen the e-mail exchange that the salesperson has had with the client so I - at the very minimum - know the e-mail of the contact person. In most cases, I also know names, titles and perhaps e-mails of anyone else who participated. What am I supposed to do with a business card? I guess it's useful if I suddenly get an urgent need to call someone else than the contact person and I have the business card with me... Which isn't likely to happen.
I understand that business cards still have their uses: When you meet people at conferences, etc. it's easiest to hand out your contact details on a piece of paper so business cards are great. But they're certainly used in situations in which there is no need for them. It's a rather silly etiquette that dictates how the two parties give each other pieces of paper that they're going to throw to the trash as soon as the meeting ends.
If you've ever done business Koreans you'll know what I mean. Business cards are like a religion for them, there's an entire ritual exchange process.
In summery it is as follows: the people you're meeting with line up to exchange business cards - you bow slightly and take it from them with both hands while looking them in the face, you then have to be seen to read the card and make a comment about the card (such as oh what a nice part of Seoul you work in!) you must then hand yours to them using both hands (which must be translated in Korean on the back)...
This ritual process will never die as it is seen to be highly respectful and carries a certain status with it - ergo business cards will always be around.
And all you have to do is put all your contact information into a discrete 3d barcode in the corner of the business card, and then read the barcode with your mobile phone camera as you are leaving the meeting. Hightech meets lowtech - best of both worlds.
That would mean losing my seemingly limitless supply of folding material.
http://spencerandbrown.com/mbb/origami/buscard/
fnord
That's bone and the lettering is something called cillian braille.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoIvd3zzu4Y
In other words, naiive hipsters who don't really know much about business yet think business cards are dead. Judging what's going on in the real world by what you encounter at SXSW is a losing game.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
I was at an American Chemical Society career symposium a year ago in Pittsburgh and the two biggest things that they encouraged us to use where: (a) Linkedin.com and (b) business cards. And the two go together because Linkedin.com gives you a personal URL with essentially an electronic version of your resume on it. That URL can be put on your business card. While electronic resources are great, there's often times when it just takes too much time to exchange information that way. You can easily swap phone numbers, but a business card has address, phone, email, website, and more. I suppose one day, we'll be able to easily swap this info using our smart phones (iPhone, Droid, etc), but right now, it seems that there are too many compatibility issues (either that, or folks have the capability in their phones but haven't seen the need to set it up).
Or if you'd prefer not to hocc, you can bump instead, or share a QR code, or use near field communication or bluetooth-- these methods do exist, they just haven't been standardized.
Sounds more like two dot com bozos to me.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
Showing up to a meeting in Korea without business cards is like showing up without pants.
Well, I hope all those Korean folks show some mutual cultural respect, and ride the subway in New York City without pants: http://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-no-pants-subway-ride/
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
If those new entrepreneurs were clueless about them, they won't stay in business long because they won't have any contacts.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
They'll probably wind up like 'calling cards' that were left in a small silver tray in the entrance hall of the person to whom you had paid a social visit, where you picked up their card so you could have the correct information to send your 'Thank You" note.
Quaint is quaint.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
I thought kids just squirted their info these days.
I like microcars
Those "two young entrepreneurs from New York" were just embarrassed that they had forgotten to bring (or make) any cards.
I bet their business plan is full of holes. Forget small things, forget big things...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Man, I use my business cards all the time! Admittedly, I'm a consultant, so I'm working with a new bunch of stakeholders every month, but still!
And what's more, I use *other* people's business cards all the time as well - I'm constantly going through my file to find someone's contact details. Not everyone puts their phone number on their email, and if I put the phone number of every person who gives me a card in my phone, I wouldn't be able to find any of my real friends in there (not to mention the disastrous drunk dialling potential!).
They are the quickest way to swap contact info. But, they can be bulky if you carry more than a days worth. They are essential for transferring "how do i get in touch with you" in a second. Even if mobile technology improves, I really don't see people pulling out their phones, going to their contacts, and hitting "share" when all they have to do is hand someone a piece of paper with all their info.
Now, this doesn't mean your card can't have a QR Code or something on it that has all that info that is easily scan-able, but to suggest the business card is dying because some poor startup was too stupid to get 1000 cards for $13 is just hilarious.
Yeah. They said something about binary riddles, which users love.
Business cards are not supposed to be advertising, or even a way to know how to send a message. It is all about the access. If Bill Gates give you HIS card, it means you are someone he wants to do serious business with, IN PERSON. When you present that to his gatekeepers, they WILL know that you are worthy of talking to him. It is a one time pass, you don't get the card back! If he thinks you are some nobody, he gives you an email or a number that can easily be ignored.
The devaluation of business cards happened when they began to be used as common advertising for salesmen. Basically personal spam. If anything, they should be handed out as sparingly as possible.
Until the classic American Psycho business card scene fades from our cultural memory, business cards will not quite be obsolete...
You want to know the single most convenient thing is about a business card? I can walk into a bar, chat to a cute girl, and slap my card on the bar with the words, "Rocket Scientist" in bold, black print right under an official company logo. Until I can do that with my cell phone, e-mails, or tweets business cards won't be going anywhere for me.
And contrary to popular Slashdot memes, chicks really do dig smart guys, especially ones that look officially smart by carrying around business cards.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
Palm PDA's have had this feature for ages. You entered your own information under Contacts, and then selected that contact as your "Business Card". Then, holding down the Contacts button would beam your card to another Palm via infrared. It was fast, and quite convenient back in the days when a lot of business people carried Palm Pilots.
Disclosure: I still carry a Palm Tungsten T5. I've also used smartphones such as a Blackberry, HP iPAQ, and iPhone 3GS. For the basic functions of contact management and calendar, I've never found anything that works as well as my old Palm PDA.
Look at that subtle off-white coloring.
The tasteful thickness of it.
Oh, my God. It even has a watermark.
Handing out business cards makes me feel like I'm in "Mad Men"!
org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
What would seem to make a hell of a lot of sense to me, would be if there was some sort of a standard for putting those 2D barcodes on the back of a business card, so people could quickly load them into their phone or PC via camera scanner software.
Yea, maybe then business cards could be obsolete I guess, in that someone could flash their card, and one could just scan it with their phone. (As opposed to physically needing to give someone a card).
According to Jackson:
'I had a lovely conversation with two young entrepreneurs from New York and when it was time to part ways, I used that old line: 'Here, let me give you my card.'
Anyone that is serious about entrepeneurship in anything but name will always be prepared to exchange details in any number of ways. They will also always be 'on the lookout' for worthwhile partners, and will generally be quite inquisitive into other people's capabilities and contacts.
If for some reason, these "young and hip" dudes are too self absorbed to consider the benefits of generating a wide variety of contacts, then it stands to reason that it's unlikely they'll go very far in the business world as a entrepeneurs.
Were they just sweet talking Miss Jackson in an attempt to get laid? Maybe.
Are they entrepeneurs? Not so much.
Maybe business cards haven't died, but how we treat them probably has: at least, it's my impression that people used to keep the business cards they received for later reference. Presumably most business cards today only last as long as it takes to enter the data into one's iPhone/computer/whatever.
How else am I supposed to win a free lunch? I always carry a few in my wallet just in case I need them, but 90% of them go into free lunch drawings and 9% get used as notecards when I need something to write on. When you get a box of 1000 for $3 it's actually cheaper than notecards or post-its.
Best ones that I have seen -
* * - Electron Cowboy
* * - Master of Time and Space [ by one of the founders of a very big ?router? company - nice guy always]
* * - Philosopher King
all of them actual cards presented (one hand usually) in meetings
First of all, this is the first time I hear of business cards going away. In academia, everyone uses them. Everybody, literally. And there's a good reason: they have company logos that reminds you about the person's affiliation, and you can write on them what was the topic you discussed with the person whose business card you received. I find the latter absolutely invaluable.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Or maybe they were just mortified by an obtuse gesture from corporate culture which had just been injected into the conversation. This isn't a practice most people engage in, or necessarily want to engage in.
I've had people give me business cards, in what I consider to be an almost random way. They then usually proceed to spin the existing conversation towards future opportunities and the like. The remainder of the encounter becomes a rather awkward and unpleasant experience.
I usually wash my hands after handling these.
May the Maths Be with you!
Ah, no. The 'entrepreneurs' just didn't have their act together enough to get cards because they are really just unemployed people with an idea and some money from the 'rents.
They were the ones who walked away from that encounter embarrassed not to have cards to give him while looking terribly unprofessional.
How do you remember their name a week after you get home from a tiring conference? Write it down perhaps?
And risk a misspelling? No way! You might correct 'Haloran' to 'Halloran', but there's no way you'll be able to reliably recover a badly written email address.
My proposal (I should patent this): put a bar code in your card with your email address. That's the most important piece of ID in today's business world. Anything else can be recovered from that.
In my nearly 20 year career, I've never gotten business cards. At first I wanted them but my employer didn't offer me any. Then I realized it would be more of a fun challenge to see how far I can get without them being forced on my by my employer... So far, so good...
My previous company offered to get them for everyone, and maybe we were even required to get them with the company logo and all that, but I never filled in the forms and no one told me I had to...
In any case, I've never really worked in a position with much interaction with people at other companies where exchanging cards would be really useful, and I don't think I ever want one of those sorts of positions. I prefer to focus on just technical work in-house...
In Japan, where most phones have had IR transceivers, it was common for people to point phones at each other to exchange phone # and email addresses...but only in private settings. In business settings, you always exchange paper business cards. In any case, the IR thing is probably starting to go out of fashion because smartphones are rapidly becoming more popular than traditional feature phones, and they tend not to have IR.
http://www.barneysvideoresume.com/
The best thing about business cards is that I can put them on the table in front of me lined up with the person that gave me the card. That way I don't have to remember their names during their introduction: I can call them by name by looking at the card in front of them first.
You hand it over to your manservant.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Yeah they are as dead as: . The yellow pages . Newspapers . Checkbooks (or even checks for that matter) . ATM machines... Speaking of that last one, I've heard of some back wanting to charge $5 for a simple ATM transaction. I rarely use and ATM machine or cash. If a vendor doesn't accept a credit/debit card I simply go somewhere else... I never know why some people insist on clinging to the past when there are better ways to do things right under their noses.
In Japan there's an increasingly popular accessory called Poken. It's a little molded plastic cute or cool object that resembles something that you'd like to show people. It might be a flower, or a play character, a cat or robot, something syndicated maybe, or so on. Anyways, you put it near a new acquaintance's Poken, and the two Poken exchange vitals: email address, etc. Whatever you authorized your Poken to share. When you get home after a day of hearty Pokening, you attached it to your computer and retrieve all the new contacts.
I would get one but nobody in America is using anything like this let alone this particular brand. Since it's already fairly popular in Japan I suggest we all might look into this cheap alternative to teh business card.
Of course ......... you know I'll be holding out for a memristor version before I invest in mine. Because it's not real if it isn't Memristor.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
If nothing else, business cards can be stuck to the refrigator with a magnet, serve to write a quick note on, etc... etc... I suspect the ordinary business card is far from dead.
... is the title on the cards I've had since the early 90's.
It's an easy way to exchange email addresses, and business cards are still vital in Japan of course.
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SXSW Music just started this week. She was at SXSW Interactive, which is a gathering of self important bloggers all telling each other they aren't the modern day equivalent of phone sanitizers.
It is people like you that cause business cards to lose their value. You use them as common advertising. You basically have said "I'm desperate, I need YOUR business." You already lost the game. Your card has as much value as a flyer tacked up on a bulletin board. If access to you is available even without a card, then your card means nothing.
If anything, you should be ASKING for cards, considering how you've already reduced yourself to begging for clients. Then YOU go to THEM and supplicate yourself for a morsel. Why should I come to YOU, you're the one who needs me more.
Everyone on Earth is not employed in the tech industry. There are people who do other things, and having a business card is much better than fiddling with tech. I do landscaping and when I'm on a job and someone passes by and admires my work and wants to know my information, do you think I should fumble with my phone with grubby hands and fuck up my new android phone? No, I hand them my card. They almost always call me about more work. So, keep in mind that there are other professions out there, and we actually enjoy our work just as much as you (maybe more, since I get a tan, and I'm way stronger than 4 neckbeards combined).
The assumption being that the value of the business card is measured through its relationship to expression of self-identity and self-worth. Under this assumption, a decline in respect of the business card is explained by observing there are now alternative and satisfactory means to express one's self-identity. From this it follows, a decline in the sharing of business cards.
This assumption is wrong because it is based on an isolated cultural trend that once surrounded business cards, when their popularity especially during the late 80's and early 90's, was mostly about establishing one's self-worth; back then, people had business cards who didn't even NEED them, let alone have good reasons to pass them along. It was just a way to be a part of the crowd, to demonstrate (even brag about) one's professional accomplishments. They were exchanged for personal reasons as often as business reasons. What's changed is the former occurs less now than before; it doesn't mean the latter has faded.
Today there is no superfluous cultural glorification of business cards, but it does not mean they are dead. Their utility has scarcely been diminished, and they are still passed around according to their original useful purpose... business. People who today want to pass along personal contact info will do so with a cell exchange. But I can't see professional business contacts being developed in any better way than business cards.
It's a lot like e-mail, and how they say that is a dying application of the internet. Social networking appears to have reduced a need for e-mail, right? Wrong. It's just caused e-mail to be used for more formal communication. The people that have a reason to use e-mail will always have that reason, and so e-mail can't ever really go away.
Just look at the growth of LinkedIn as evidence that professionals will distance themselves from "alternative" networking trends.
- cleaning under your finger nails.
- a filter for your joints.
- a way of remembering where you worked.
- shimming wobbly furniture.
really, the list is endless..
Your business card probably isn't going to get lost in my pocket. I tend to take care of them. Your beamed-over contact info. is guaranteed to get lost among my few hundred contacts in my phone. I can't do that beaming b.s., I'll never remember who the hell you were after 24 hours.
HBR, you mean the Honolulu Board of realtors?
Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
I think the main use I get out of mine is passing my email address easily, without having to spell everything out. Yes - I still find it useful, but it's probably not what it used to be (I'm sure it gets tossed/circular filed after everything is entered into the appropriate address book application)
Why don't the smartphone manufacturers build this into every phone...?
Because smartphones are not pda's.
I *could* have imagined this making a comeback with the introduction of NFC features in phones, but then why doesn't this exist for Bluetooth? Sadly, today's phone manufacturers cater to the young must-have-a-new-phone-at-least-twice-a-year crowd who want 3D graphics and MyFaceckr integration and are perfectly happy with a mediocre *phone book* rather than a proper *address book*.
I have used *up* several Palm Pilots, and my brother has equally used *up* several Psion Series 5's, but we have had to move on and get smartphones (Android for me, iPhone for him), but we both secretly miss our beloved pda's incredibly much.
"Good news, everyone!"
GPS is certainly nice. I was delighted to find out that my iPhone can guide me around an unfamiliar city by indicating where the nearest bus stop is, which bus I should catch, and when it's coming. I saved a bundle by hopping buses instead of taking taxis during a recent trip to Ottawa.
I guess iPhone developers don't speak French, however. Things went wrong the moment I bused over a bridge and into Quebec.
That pause and look wasn't a sign that business cards are out, that was a sign that those two guys dont know much about business in the wilds.
They come in the dark, only in the darkest.
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Perfect roach material.
I have enjoyed passing smoke through the cards of many business acquaintances as well as my own.
As for business cards, I like them. That's not what I'm here to talk to you about though.
> Each will tell me something more about the person who gave it to me than I could have known from their contact info alone.
I suspect this statement results from a lack of imagination of the scope of digital identity. Granted, contact info alone will not do it. Once you link to their identity, however, you can learn a lot more from their Twitter feed, LinkedIn CV, or Facebook page than you can from the design and content of their business card. Once you've seen my pictures from Burning Man, there's no going back -- those images will be seared into your neural network for life. :)
And, yes, my goal is to make those images public (though I'll be using Diaspora). As I think about it, I realize I want to work with and for people who think that my geodesic domes and cyclonic incinerator -- and even my cross-dressing friends -- are interesting. People who see who I am -- peculiar, hacker, geek -- as a feature, not a bug. Why would i trade my considerable skills to someone who would think less of me for such things?
Hmm, I digress, but I think that was an interesting wander.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
The Japanese seem to have this reverential attitude toward business cards. Typically, a Japanese businessman will hand his card to you with both hands, as if it were a plaque or a ceremonial sword. I remember this well because of a massive faux pax I committed years ago. I made the error of scribbling my phone number on a slip of paper, after I received the business card of a Japanese guest to a semi-formal social function (yes, I sometimes attend one of those). He was quite polite, even smiling as he slipped the slip of paper into his wallet, but to my horror, I would see later how other people did their self-introduction properly, bowing slightly while holding out their own business cards with both hands.
Well, who knows, maybe now they'll be exchanging e-cards by holding out their cellphones at arm's length like two samurai warriors about to do battle.
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20110304&mode=classic.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
So they didn't make cards, maybe even didn't think about it. Rookie mistake. Happens to many. How is this news?
What makes these two rookies so special that them forgetting cards is a sign of a new era, whereas other rookies forgetting them is a sign of, well, rookies.
Really, you must be kidding, if you are from this (business) planet. From the original post: "I was speaking a forgotten language. A business card. How precious." You were probably meeting with a couple of rubes who were unprepared for the realities of the business world. Surprised by a business card? No, this isn't the 24th century. We still exchange bits of paper with our contact information. Everyone does. I collect about fifty cards a month and hand out 4 or 5 for every one that I get. Most of them (mine and the ones that I receive) get tossed out, but that's the way of business cards.
^this. So very much this.
In the real world, where business takes place (ie where you have to make profits, you don't have "Venture Caps" and people try to make things that other people want to buy) business cards are ubiquitous, because they don't need power, a format, a matching protocol, or even time - you just hand it over.
Now, probably 90%+ will go home and enter that info into their contact information database, of course.
But really, as far as simple, redundant, reliable info transfer, sometimes paper beats circuit.
-Styopa
Joel Bauer makes a very persuasive argument here in regards to professional business card design. Honestly anyone who is considering getting a business card should watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk
Actually one of the most fun uses of the beam functionality back in the palm pilot days was to beam porn to the display model printers (many of which accepted infrared beams from PDAs) at the big electronics stores or trade shows and then quietly disappear into the crowd.
What's funny is that most commenters here miss the point entirely. They're thinking of traditional settings, where you meet someone you've never met, then hand over cards. Of course you're gonna need real business cards.
What TFA is actually about is that traditional way of meeting someone new is beginning to be superseded by first meeting someone online. When you meet someone via Facebook, you are going to have all their contact info already so the point of exchanging a business card to get their telephone number is quite moot. You will already have all the contact info you need.
I suspect in the US/Europe the traditional business card will pretty soon be ritualized even further and be just something to fiddle with while you meet someone IRL. I had stickers made and they do that perfectly. It's been many years since I met someone IRL who I didn't first connect with via email. And if you're thinking in terms of trade shows and the like I have news for you: in ten years or so those will be pretty irrelevant too.
Matter of fact, with all the fancy true-satellite-GPS, accelerometers, compasses, dual cams and random smarphone tech that appeared into smartphones overnight, quick and reliable business card transfers should have been in someone's business purpose list of immediate itches to scratch. And card-transfers with Wifi should be fast, since infrared beams maxed at ~100kbps IIRC.
Handshake problem: WPS WiFi hardware, or more to the point, Bluetooth's card-exchange's problem is that you must share 5-digit strings and/or beat a timer to connect... I'd rather "clink" my friends' hardware and mine than locate software / hardware buttons that were placed randomly by each manufacturer and require logins to unlock.
Old tech rising up to challenge: Modifying current tech such as the recently cancelled / (or delayed?) iPhone 5's near-field purchase tech could replace the old beam concept with tech that has enterprise strength, accuracy and security.
If the iPhone contact-less tech is too expense, we could rely on some on-demand form of WiFi activated by contact-started tech where you clink two phones (picture wine glasses and people going "cheers!" in the passage of a few milliseconds). Enforcing contact could ensure the partners handshake only each other's keys, and then switch rapidly back to well-known and reliable contact-FREE WPA2 transfers without fear of RFID-tag sniffers that so much scare contactless tech people.
Still in use on every modern Japanese cell phone.
IrDA is prevalent in phones in Japan so they use that to 'beam'. It actually works quite well compared to Bluetooth, for example, and lots of beaming goes on even compared to traditional business card exchange.
and the lettering is something called "Cillian Braille"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioLlYA8NNc0&t=2m43s
If you print them on the back of the card, it doesn't leave you much room for writing grocery lists...
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Yeah, they're not as high quality as the one's you'll get from an engraver or even Kinko's, but they'll do for most uses, and you can even customize them.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I've worked at a hotel for 5 years now. Trust me when i say the Bussiness card is NOT dead. We have customers who use them constantly, either handing them to us for the required contact information (I wish more people would do this, it seriusly cuts down on check in time), or trading them with other bussiness people in the resturant.
Far from being dead i would say that bussiness cards are seing a revival. Nowadays it is easier then ever to get your own bussiness cards, they aren't just for big time ceo's anymore, beauty parlors and minor travelling salesmen use them aswell.
The bussiness card is still as revelvant as it has always been.
I think that's what I'm having printed on my next card...
By sending electronic business cards. I haven't used paper business cards since the late 90s, when I could just beam my e-card via my Palm PDA (back then almost every single techie owned a Palm or compatible PDA).
There are FAR more people who aren't techies and I shudder at the thought of trying to explain to them how to beam contact information from their iPhone to some other random piece of technology.
Business cards are useful and there is no adequate replacement.
Yeah, getting a person's card means that you have to manually transcribe the information on it to your phone or PC and then dispose of the card.
As opposed to weeding out that information from your PC once you realize this is a person you are never going to contact again. Thanks, I prefer to keep the size of my electronic address book manageable and cruft free. Hard enough to manage them without cluttering it up with a bunch of contact info I'll have to clean up later.
Business cards have the additional nice feature that they are FAST to exchange. I don't have to pull out my phone and spending the better part of a minute (presuming the other person knows what they are doing - longer otherwise) fiddling with it to exchange data. With a business card I can just hand them the card and keep talking rather than wasting time paying attention to a computer instead of the person I'm talking to. Your attention should be on the person, not your iPhone.
Getting contact information directly means that you get what you want, in the format that you want without any of the wasteful side-effects.
And what if what I want is their name and contact information written on a little piece of paper that takes 2 seconds to exchange so that I can decide what I want to do with the information later? To me the wasteful side effect is spending time and electricity instead of just handing over a pre-printed piece of information and moving on with business.
"ah, yes, we're having some new cards printed at the minute" - the number of times I've used that excuse...
And why not to use a virtual business card? There's an italian start-up trying to do that:
www.airpim.com
It's mostly organic but the life is gone. If you want people you meet to remember you without using the business card then humiliate them, or hurt them avoiding blows to the head.
I work a lot with Chinese and often it is next to impossible to remember correctly one peer's name without the business card. Putting just the name on the card is cool, but again will not work in this case - phonetic Chinese transcription (ynyì) can be ambiguous, so you need some additional information.
Cards with QR codes are really useful, I cannot understand why they are not widely used.
I use them when meeting new people. I lay cards front of me on the table and i can easily remember who is who.
A Taiwanese vendor visited me today in my office. I took him to a conference room. He handed me his business card. I took a cursory look at it & placed it on the table. My business card was on my desk, so I didn't give it to him immediately. At the end of the meeting, we went past my office & I handed my card - he took it with both hands & read it as if I am handing out the new 10 commandments to him. I was surprised but didn't think much about it.
I am a not at the business end of things, so I very rarely hand our business cards, but this slashdot story still helped me understand stuff.
Great, now I've just wasted 15 minutes of my morning pondering business cards. So here's my 2 cents: I generally hate having business cards handed to me because this almost always occurs after we've already had an email or phone exchange. I'ts just massaging your ego at this point. As for handing out cards, well... I'm not in sales and I don't usually appreciate (nearly) cold calls, so there. I still have boxes of cards from 3 jobs ago. But then I'm the anti social, non-networking type. I just can't think of many instances where a business card would be preferable to a Google search, for me.
The user interface problem I have with business cards is that I don't have them with me when I need them.
Modernize them, of course. Embed rfid, maybe bluetooth :) and a simple sms. GPS might be unfashionable. Very simple pre-programmed email might be doable. eKeep things simple, and its amazing what will fit on a card. Dynamic charging and very small battery and/or supercapacitance buit in to the material. External rf charging - broad spectrum within size constraints. Expiration dates or killcodes could be programmed in. Even simple passwords.
A "macro" version could be hacked with the smallest picserver (smd), flexible base, and dynamic watch innards. Chinese web-watches already do it. So, it probably isn't that impossible a concept.
Oh. And basing them on thin slivers of transparent aluminum would definitively gain points. :)
Thanks for the heads-up.
Just like we all use i-mode too, right?
Agreed.
They are also useful to the arguably small group of people who do not own mobile surveillance devices a.k.a. cell phones and smartphones. Personally I keep the most important phone numbers on good old paper and of course business cards. When the shit goes down, I still have all the information I need to contact my lawyer, friends and family. Example scenarios would be power failure or seizure of equipment by law enforcement agencies.
I remember beaming my contact info at church
In Britain, people who go to church tend to know the names and other details of every person there i.e. four others plus the vicar.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
When I was at school, most ten year olds didn't have palm pilots.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Has anyone beamed a business card to you recently in a meeting? I suspect not, unless you spend time with people who like using classic PDAs.
Even more importantly, does anyone still have a business card that was beamed to them 10 years go?
Any time Slashdot posts a story titled "Is X dead?", X is usually still alive.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
If I think it's a good idea to contact a person, I can almost always remember their name. If I don't need to remember someone's name, that's usually backed up by getting to toss out their card.
sau!
Too bad they're largely useless for dealing with aftermath of certain physiological functions of the body; typically a bit too small for that...
(worse, same goes for various flyers handed out at tram & bus stops, underpasses, etc. - and I bet that's the goal of choosing glossy paper to make virtually all of them)
One that hath name thou can not otter
Has anyone beamed a business card to you recently.
On vacation about two years ago, after a short group outing, it was suggest that we exchange contact information... all the Europeans, South Americans and Japanese tourists whipped out their phones and did a BlueTooth contract transfer in a few seconds, while I, with my fancy, new, T-Mobile G1 Android phone, was left having to copy contact information manually :(
They made it sound like a standard thing 'back home', even with non-smart phones and were astonished that I didn't have the feature, on my, otherwise much more advanced smart phone.
Even, now that most people install a bar-code scanner applet on their smart phones that is capable of creating a QR code image for a vCard that others can scan, it's enough of a hassle that I've never seen anybody actually do it. At most it's a novelty.
I also have the AndroBex and BlueTooth Transfer apps installed on my current phone and they make BlueTooth contact transfer possible. However, it's not quite as easy to do as it was for my travel companions who were able to go from having the phone in their pocket to having their contact on a companion's phone in under 30 seconds. I also have no idea if whatever protocol these apps use for contact transfer, would be compatible with whatever protocol they're using. Since I've installed the apps, which I primarily use for phone to laptop cable-less transfer, I have yet to encounter a situation where I needed to exchange contact information and the other person had a similar capability already installed on their phone.
Mention business cards dying and every 50 year old slashdot reader rages. So funny. Even to the point of talking crap on the two young ones that were used in the story. Pathetic.