Business Cards the Latest Internet Casualty

Hugh Pickens writes "Chalk up another looming casualty of the Internet age: business cards. Ubiquitous as pinstripes, the 2-by-3.5-inch pieces of card stock have long been a staple in executive briefcases. But now, writes Matt Stevens, young and Web-savvy people who are accustomed to connecting digitally, see business cards as irrelevant, wasteful — and just plain lame. 'When I go into a meeting and there are five bankers across the table, they all hand me business cards and they all end up in a pile, in a shoe box somewhere,' says Diego Berdakin, the founder of BeachMint, a fast-growing e-commerce site that has raised $75 million from investors without ever bothering to print a card. 'If someone comes in to meet me, we've already been connected through email, so it really doesn't feel like a necessity in my life.' Some 77 million smartphone users have downloaded the Bump app, which allows them to bump their phones together and instantly exchange contact information. Others carry a personalized quick-response code that smartphones can scan like a hyperlink. At 36, Ralph Barbagallo is near the cutoff for Generation Y but despises business cards all the same. Barbagallo says he goes to three major conferences a year and has to distribute paper cards, but lugging and exchanging fistfuls of them is a pain and it's hard to remember who is who. 'When they run out this time, I'm not printing any more,' says Barbagallo. 'They need to die somehow.'"

Comments

Eggshell white, raised lettering

[Anonymous Coward]

Anytime someone mentions business cards I always think of the scene in american psycho.

"oh my god, it even has a watermark."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ux3vncNNLg

Every time I get a business card...

[rampant mac]

Every time I get a business card I start quoting the American Psycho business card scene.

"Wow, nice card buddy, it looks similar to mine. Just without the Cillian Braille font."

I've actually had a few people catch on to it. :)

Re:Only people who are full of shit use them.

[imadork]

Ties cut off circulation to your brain and make you dumber. Wear a tie for too long, and the only job you'll be qualified for will be in Management.

Re:I want cards with those scanner codes embedded

[93 Escort Wagon]

Why not go a step further and just embed your QR code into your screen wallpaper? Even works for those non-smart "feature phones".

Enough with the half-measures already. Commit 100% - tattoo your QR code onto your forehead, or the back of your right hand.