4 ms·

This idea would have been more intriguing 5-10 years ago when people were more used to plugging stuff in and out and cloud based services weren't so ubiquitous.

by saroshk 12y ago

This idea would have been more intriguing 5-10 years ago when people were more used to plugging stuff in and out and cloud based services weren't so ubiquitous. It appears that they took a long time to develop the USB part and missed the boat on that. Even the card's NFC chip, which seems to have been an afterthought in development for this product, is a more compelling feature that its main selling point. I simply don't see this product's utility as a business card. If I want to get in touch with someone after receiving their business card, the only information I need from that business card is their email address; I'm not going to plug in a USB device just to get that email address. If I want to save all the info on the card, Evernote is already better and simpler at solving that problem. The only people I can see this possibly being useful to are photographers for sharing their portfolio, but, again, it would have been a lot more useful for that purpose 5-10 years ago.

Joe_iP 12y ago
saroshk, great points. However, I feel you don't understand our solution completely. First off, their is an inherent need for print-to-web solutions. This has been an obvious demand with technologies such as augmented reality, quick response codes and near field communication. This demand has been created mostly by marketers. The advancements in the algorithms that effect both Search Engine Optimization and Email is making marketing online a difficult thing. This has created a push back over to direct marketing and self-promotion. Our swivelCard platform isn't a solution for a USB drive. If that was the case, I'd agree completely with your comment. Our swivelCard platform is closing the gap on print-to-web compatibility issues. Globally only 1 in 5 people own a smart phone. Things like QR, NFC, AR, Evernote only provide a solution for a very small part of the problem. USB "PORTS" on the other hand are in abundance. This fact makes swivelCard the most universal solution for anyone looking to reach a large audience/demographic with a print-to-web solution. I also wanted to touch on your point regarding "getting an email address". I agree, I doubt anyone would plug in a swivelCard to get someones email. To be honest, swivelCard makes an email address a moot point. I can take one swivelCard and assign it to you and give you direct access to my laptop via a screen share. Or I can take one swivelCard, attach it to a dropbox shared folder and share information with you that way. Yes, we could do that via an email, but I'm sure you and I both can agree in the world of sales (business) some people don't share their personal information (email). You also mentioned "cloud based services". The idea behind cloud based platforms is to keep people connected to an experience. Almost all cloud based platforms can be shared through a simple URL. swivelCard lets you exploit this feature by simply copying and pasting that URL into any point of communication on the card. Meaning, I can take 200 swivelCards and attach them to 200 separate dropbox folders. You are correct in regard to some of our existing customers like photographers and videographers. And they do use it to share their portfolios, but the more interesting use-case you haven't imagined. A photographer can actually use swivelCard as a cross-sell. Instead of including a CD with digital versions of client photos they can sell their personal business cards as a part of the photo packages. When you stop thinking of swivelCard as a thumb drive and start thinking about what it really is, you'll understand it has limitless potential for sharing digital/cloud based solutions that are accessible by everyone.

by saroshk 12y ago

Joe_iP 12y ago

saroshk, great points. However, I feel you don't understand our solution completely. First off, their is an inherent need for print-to-web solutions. This has been an obvious demand with technologies such as augmented reality, quick response codes and near field communication. This demand has been created mostly by marketers. The advancements in the algorithms that effect both Search Engine Optimization and Email is making marketing online a difficult thing. This has created a push back over to direct marketing and self-promotion. Our swivelCard platform isn't a solution for a USB drive. If that was the case, I'd agree completely with your comment. Our swivelCard platform is closing the gap on print-to-web compatibility issues. Globally only 1 in 5 people own a smart phone. Things like QR, NFC, AR, Evernote only provide a solution for a very small part of the problem. USB "PORTS" on the other hand are in abundance. This fact makes swivelCard the most universal solution for anyone looking to reach a large audience/demographic with a print-to-web solution. I also wanted to touch on your point regarding "getting an email address". I agree, I doubt anyone would plug in a swivelCard to get someones email. To be honest, swivelCard makes an email address a moot point. I can take one swivelCard and assign it to you and give you direct access to my laptop via a screen share. Or I can take one swivelCard, attach it to a dropbox shared folder and share information with you that way. Yes, we could do that via an email, but I'm sure you and I both can agree in the world of sales (business) some people don't share their personal information (email). You also mentioned "cloud based services". The idea behind cloud based platforms is to keep people connected to an experience. Almost all cloud based platforms can be shared through a simple URL. swivelCard lets you exploit this feature by simply copying and pasting that URL into any point of communication on the card. Meaning, I can take 200 swivelCards and attach them to 200 separate dropbox folders. You are correct in regard to some of our existing customers like photographers and videographers. And they do use it to share their portfolios, but the more interesting use-case you haven't imagined. A photographer can actually use swivelCard as a cross-sell. Instead of including a CD with digital versions of client photos they can sell their personal business cards as a part of the photo packages. When you stop thinking of swivelCard as a thumb drive and start thinking about what it really is, you'll understand it has limitless potential for sharing digital/cloud based solutions that are accessible by everyone.