18 comments

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  James Whatley

  12 months ago

  First off
  
  "Fox has just reported that MMS is killing the postcard industry..."
  
  FOX?! Do me a favour... and MMS is SO unreliable I'd sooner send a postcard.
  
  
  
  
  ...although - and I've hawked this around a few places now (I'm looking at you Moo.com & ShoZu) wouldn't it be GREAT if I could *actually* send a physical postcard from my phone.
  
  Snap - add copy - add address - send to ShoZu/Moo
  ShoZu/Moo receive - print - send
  
  Digital -> Tangible
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  MartinSFP

  12 months ago

  Given the state of the postal service these days I'd prefer something digital than tangible. None of my postcards from Turkey last year have arrived ten months on! I wrote about FriendFeed and similar services being useful as a postcard replacement here:
  http://14sandwiches.com/2008/06/23/friendfeed-t...
  
  That postcard printing idea is brilliant though!
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• 

  Mike42

  12 months ago

  Oh genius, Mr Whatley. I would pay £1 for someone to add a piccy I'd taken to a postcard, and bung it in the post to my Gran. No, wait, I'd probably pay £2-3.
  
  The alternative is me finding the postcard & a pen, writing it, buying a stamp, and then posting the thing. Faff faff faff. The personalised nature of this idea is brilliant. The MOMENT and ME aspects of Tomi's 6 M's are perfectly met here.
  
  Moo already print postcards, add my text on the back and post them to me, so everything's there. Sorted.
  
  Go Moo....it's a winner.
  
  /m
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  Anthony

  12 months ago

  I don't think I've ever sent a postcard (I'm both cheap and lazy too!) But I've started sending MMSes when I'm away as on my network they cost the same as sending a text message. Seems like a no brainer - send a picture and loads of writing for 25p or er, just send a short message for 25p...
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  Njar

  12 months ago

  where have you guys been for the past 4 years?! There have been around half a dozen MMS to postcard services out and about over this time - some of them exceptionally good.
  
  MMS for various technical and interconnect reasons is not likely to ever be as reliable as SMS. Within the UK it's very reliable now and if the user is roaming on a decent network, the chances are it'll work.
  
  The argument about MMS growth being attributed to holidays, and that MMS will sound the death knell for postcards is all crap!
  
  Who between the ages of 15 and 35 actually sends: Postcards/Letters/Christmas Cards/Paper Invites? We're the digital comms generation. Paper is too analogue.
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  Mike42

  12 months ago

  @Njar: Not MMS to postcard, more like photo>postcard service. As an addition to ShareOnline or ShoZu as James said.
  
  MMS would be complete rubbish printed out postcard-size (no wonder they failed if they ever existed).
  
  You need MP-resolution, not kb resolution. Integrated. Payment method stored. Frequent addresses stored ( 'Gran' / 'Mum' / 'Honey' / 'Loosers in office')
  
  Maybe even pre-filled text blocks: "Nyaa nyaa see me on the beach. Wish you were here - NOT!" or "Dear Gran, here are some lovely piccys of the children on the beach".
  
  The icing on this mashup cake would be a geotagged reference to where the image was taken.
  
  Ooooooh......
  
  /m
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  James Whatley

  12 months ago

  Mike's nailed it. That's exactly what I'm talking about.
  
  Have also thrown this conversation at the people at Moo too.
  
  So fingers crossed!
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• 

  nacho

  12 months ago

  Say what? MMS? Does that work? Since when? Last time I looked it was operator/handset dependent so not reliable at all. Ages ago, I tried to send a MMS from a Sony Ericsson in O2 to another SE in O2, Both phones exactly the same model, with proper settings requested from O2 for the test, it did not work. O2 apologised blah blah, I gave up.
  I rather send postcards, or nothing at all
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  James Whatley

  12 months ago

  EXACTLY!
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• 

  technokitten

  11 months ago

  sms stabbed the postcard in the heart.
  Flickr, shozu, Facebook et al finished it off.
  I still like getting a postcard from my family when they're on holiday but the sense of 'going away' is not really there any more as we're constantly in touch via our mobiles so there's less need to send a postcard as it's quite likely we'll be chatting, facebooking, emailing, im'ing or texting whilst I'm away anyway unless I've deliberately turned my digital life switch to OFF. And that doesn't happen very often!
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  Mike42

  11 months ago

  But don't you think there's a market for combining the two?
  
  The creativity, personalisation, 'ME' factors of the mobile-generated photo (Location - I was here - now - so was everyone else) along with the convenience / immediacy *Moment* of 'click-note-send'?
  
  A mass-market postcard benefits from the personal handwriting on the back to make the emotional connection, to give it currency. The mobile-generated image would do the same for the mobile postcard. and it's *tangible*. The recipient can hold it, pin it up, pop it in an album or shoebox. Make the font handwritten, Comic MS, something like that. Teach it my handwriting style, Highlander-property-deeds-like ;-)
  
  The MMS or emailed image is nice, but in being so easy to send, so intangible, so deletable, it looses a lot.
  
  We received a heartfelt, handwritten thank-you note today in the post. It's on the mantlepiece now. No email or MMS or MoSoSo posting could ever convey the same emotion and connection.
  
  £0.02 anyway. If Moo launch this I'll probably send a few each month.
  
  /m
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  Njar

  12 months ago

  You heathens!
  
  Peer to peer MMS in the UK has rocketed over the past few years, as have wholesale volumes.
  
  The networks still have much work to do, but the simple fact remains that there isn't a better way to communicate multimedia content between remote handsets. SMS was pretty rubbish in the olden days, and it's now totally stock solid. There are low level reasons why MMS isn't as solid, but I'll not bore you..
  
  We need to embrace the MMS....
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• 

  Ewan

  11 months ago

  Njar, sorry for the delay in approving - if you had a disqus account your comments would go up right-away!
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  technokitten

  11 months ago

  We still send birthday cards; a postcard is still nice to receive; I still write letters to my Mum and enjoying receiving hers; so yes, there's still a market. But it's nothing like the heyday of my childhood holidays when I would send everyone in my family a postcard. Then it was *the done thing*. It just isn't any more. I can't actually remember the last time I sent anyone a postcard, it's so long ago.
  
  I think there are times when a completely personalised, print-on-demand postcard will be the right thing, but it still loses its edge unless it's hand-written or at least hand-signed. A digital signature just doesn't cut it but in certain circumstances, I guess it would do. I personally loathe Christmas cards that are auto-generated. Either send me a hand-written personalised Christmas Card, or don't bother thanks.
  
  So yes, moo.com should probably do this unless the cost of production is prohibitive as it's a nice product fit for them. Would something like this cause a dramatic increase in postcard sending? Unlikely.
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  Njar

  11 months ago

  no worries Ewan..
  
  I'm still bitter at MOMOLondon for making me get a Yahoo account to join the group, although it came in handy when flickr sold out. I'll probably get Disqus sorted at some stage :)
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  Ewan

  11 months ago

  Nay bother. I was at the drinks so didn't manage to approve your comments in a timely manner. I was enjoying the argument!
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  Jon

  11 months ago

  MMS Postcard Service is availble in the UK on Vodafone for example. It's a superb service that allows you to send from any country supporting mobile data roaming with your network (most do). Not only that it goes first class from the UK to the recipient which means they should get it the next day. You can add your own text that is printed on the back of the postcard - just like the real thing! And several options for bordering your photo on the front if you wish. No Geotag.
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  Richard Martin

  7 months ago

  I'm a bit late to this discussion. But you might be interested in wavingmadly.com: cameraphone to email picture postcards. Send to as many email recipients as you like.
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