E-Cards Eclipse Paper

First Newspapers, Then Greeting Cards?

As goes the Star Tribune (and Chicago Tribune, and Rocky Mountain News, and any number of now-bankrupt or extinct newspapers) . . . so goes Hallmark Cards?

It's hard to avoid that thought watching three kids -- mine -- react to the cards my five-year old daughter received on her birthday today.

The paper cards were barely glanced at.

By contrast, the eCards -- with their dynamic graphics, sound effects, and story lines -- kept them transfixed for eons (OK, a few minutes, but that's an eternity for small kids).

Hard to go back to black-and-white -- or 2-D -- once you've seen 3-D.

P.S.: Ironically, my guess is that paper cards will survive if only because they serve as the "delivery system" for another anachronism: a personal check as birthday gift (vs. gift cards and other forms of digital money).