I have to take issue with an article on American Express’ OPEN blog titled “Why your next business card may be virtual”, because it’s a little misleading on the widespread use of “virtual card” technology. Applications like Bump and LinkedIn’s iphone bluetooth app provide simple proximity exchanges of vcards but there’s 2 problems with them that my favorite tech blogs forget to really detail: 1) You have to have the right phone , and 2) You have to have the right App. LinkedIn’s app is iphone-only and Bump is limited to 2 types of smartphones.
Ease vs. Techiness
Even considering the only major virtual card format, the pervasive “VCARD” (files in .vcf format), there’s obvious shortcomings on adoption of this standard across platforms. I have been very impressed that Apple’s taken the standard that Microsoft popularized, and integrated it into their own world. So, .vcf files are indeed an option for exchanging contact information if you are in your office communicating with someone over the internet – whether they have a Mac or PC. However, what if you aren’t in the safety of your office? When you go to a conference or seminar and meet 12 people at your networking table – how long will it take you to ask each of them individually to spell out their email address so you can punch in an email on your iphone and attach your .vcf file? Or do you just want to get their phone number, and have to call them later to ask for “the rest of their information”. That’d be an awkward phone call.
This is the current reality of vCards or virtual business cards – they take way too much time and effort to exchange contact information when you meet someone in person when compared with the traditional paper business cards. Why aren’t we in a virtual card world yet? Couple of reasons: One reason is that cellular companies have lagged tremendously in adopting cross-platform proximity technology, because … well… it would mean that they would have to work together on a common tech standard – and in the real world they don’t like to talk to one another.
The second reason we’re still in a physical card world is that many people make good use of the creative, visual aspects of business cards (in ways that a VCARD format would never allow). A business card can be used as a branding “first touch” in a marketing sense, to make the recipient think about the company or value proposition, like this Graphic Designer does with his complex back. Or the countless other examples of memorable executions of printed cards.
In the OPEN blog post Josh Catone’s tone is that anything physical is inevitably going to be replaced with the virtual. In fact he only passingly mentions this quote from Moo CEO Richard Moross:
“Some of the emerging virtual business card ideas are great, but they universally lack one critical ingredient: personality. Form is still just as important as function these days. A virtual business card is just data.”
In truth, we live in a physical world every moment of our day. More of our time is spent online, but I think we are a long way from being like Bruce Willis in Surrogates, only living to “plug in” to our virtual selves. When we’re at real-life events like seminars, classes, church services, wine-tastings or whatever you like to do in your spare time, you really have three first impressions: what you look like, what you say, and your business card.
