時尚雙語:體貼周到的“賀卡管家”
Electronic greetings, or e-cards, have come a long way since their debut as one-dimensional postcards and now can include animation, slideshows and personal narration.
These digital creations save forgetful friends who don't think far enough in advance to buy and send snail-mail cards. However, even the hippest e-cards, such as customizable cartoons from political parody site , are no match for paper cards with thoughtfully penned sentiments.
Rather than fight the ever-popular, old-school cards, the digital world is trying to improve the way people buy and send those cards. This week I tested a Web site called , which sends email reminders a month before important dates and offers to ship paper cards one, two, or four weeks before an event. The cards can arrive pre-stamped and pre-addressed, so you need only add your own hand-written message before dropping them in the mail.
Jack Cards LLC of Boston based its business after the notion that an imaginary correspondence butler named 'Jack' could take care of you, making you look like the friend/spouse/relative/boss of the year. Its cards range from $1.50 to $6 each, plus the cost of a stamp if you opt to get the card pre-stamped; U.S. shipping is free throughout December.
My primary skepticism about Jack Cards was its content: Did it offer enough variety to justify buying cards without seeing them? Would its cards be funny enough to send my uncle into a fit of laughter? And would they be like the tear-jerkers best friends see in stores and buy for one another for no reason?
Jack Cards prides itself on unique offerings that can't be found in the local drugstore, and I found that its cards fit the bill for many occasions. It's worth noting the cards looked even better in person, created by about 40 designers who left me both scratching my head over some of their humor and cooing over their beautiful designs. But the functionality of the site needs to improve, especially in the way it helps users search through cards; too often, results were hit and miss. And it doesn't incorporate enough rich Web 2.0 features, which could improve navigation on the site and be a real boon for looking at cards (imagine an inset animation of a card opening and revealing its message inside).
Predictably, Hallmark Cards Inc. isn't sitting idly by as a start-up tries to steals its thunder. Its Web site, , sells paper cards in addition to e-cards and it, too, can remind you of coming events. Its way of personalizing cards is to send them directly to recipients with a message typed inside -- a method that isn't as personal. Like Jack Cards, Hallmark offers to mail cards to buyers to send out but doesn't pre-stamp or pre-address anything.
Hallmark also differs from Jack Cards in the shipping department. A $2.99 birthday card from cost $2.95 to be shipped to me -- and wouldn't arrive at my door for five business days. The free shipping offer from Jack Cards will end in January, but the company normally charges 99 cents for two- to three-day shipping; this flat fee applies to a package filled with any number of cards.
Without signing in, anyone can browse through the more than 1,000 cards on . Those interested in joining the site can do so for free after entering a name, password, email and birthday. Members are asked to enter a list of the 'Fast Five' -- people with whom they most often correspond, such as parents, siblings, best friends or close colleagues.
Each of the Fast Five is set up with a name, address and list of events that correspond to the person; I listed my parents with their anniversary, Mother's Day or Father's Day, birthdays and Christmas. I was a little stunned to find an event titled 'Will You Marry Me?' but I suppose Jack Cards thought of everything.
The site could stand to be better organized. The page filled with data on each of my Fast Five seemed jumbled, and jumping from one contact to another wasn't as easy as it should be. Hyperlinks beside the events I entered for these people directed me to a general browsing page for cards instead of to a page specifically related to an event. These extra steps gave the page a clumsy feel.
Drop-down search toolbars let you choose the occasion, style of card (Humor, Just For Kids, Romantic etc.), recipient and designer. Each card's front and inside messages, size and paper color are identified as you move your cursor over them.
I was stunned by some of the Mother-specific birthday cards. None of the cards said 'Happy Birthday, Mom,' which was a problem because without that, the cards all seemed ambiguous. A card in this search said, 'You are going to cherish this birthday card years from now. Cuz who knows if I'll remember your birthday again. Happy Birthday.' I can't think of anyone who would give such a card to a mother. The company continues to improve its searching to be more accurate.
But Jack Cards did introduce me to some clever and original material that I never would've seen in my CVS. Beautifully colorful cards made by Masha D'yans caught my eye immediately and looked more like watercolor paintings than cards.
I bought a good variety of about 25 cards and had them sent to me, some stamped and pre-labeled with my return address and the recipient's address typed in attractive script, others without any stamp or label. Square cards cost more to mail (58 cents compared with 41 cents), but Jack Cards will give you the appropriate stamp. The weight and quality of the cards, along with their artistic attributes, made them feel more special than something that has been picked up from a shelf and opened by a hundred passersby. Many cards were individually packaged in plastic wrappers to stay clean en route.
If Jack Cards can continue to work on its site's navigation and search functions, I think its system would be welcomed by many people looking for good-quality, well-designed cards that catch the eye. It saves users the hassle of last-minute trips to the card store, and still lets greeting cards keep their personal touch, which is what makes them such a permanent fixture in our lives.
從最初模仿形式單一的明信片，到現在加入了動畫、幻燈片和真人語音，電子賀卡問世以來走過了一段漫長的道路。
這些數字創意拯救了記不起提前購買和寄出傳統賀卡的健忘的朋友。不過，即使是做得最棒的電子賀卡，比如來自政治諷刺網站的定製漫畫，在表達情感方面也無法同精心手寫的紙質賀卡相比。
數字世界並未排斥這種曾經廣為流行的老式賀卡，而是在努力改進人們購買和傳送這些賀卡的方式。本週，我測試了一個名為的網站。該網站會在重要日期到來前一個月用電子郵件提醒你，並在重要日期的一週、兩週或四周前將貼好郵票、寫上地址的賀卡寄送到你手中，你要做的只是親筆寫上祝福的話語，然後投到郵筒中就萬事大吉了。
波士頓Jack Cards LLC的業務模式就是：一個名為“傑克”(Jack)的虛擬通訊管家會替你考慮周到，讓你成為稱職的朋友/配偶/親戚/老闆。其賀卡的售價從每張1.50 美元到6美元不等，如果你希望預貼郵票，那就外加郵票錢；今年12月在美國範圍內免收運費。
我對Jack Cards的主要疑慮在於其內容：它的花樣多不多，是否足以令人不用親眼看到就決心購買？賀卡是否足夠搞笑，讓我的叔叔收到後能暢懷大笑？是不是像商店中一些的東西那樣感人至深，讓人一看到就會毫不猶豫地買下來送給朋友？
讓Jack Cards引以為傲的是，它的賀卡獨具匠心，在各地商店裡是無法找到的。我發現這些賀卡能夠滿足許多場合下的需要。值得一提的是，這些賀卡的實物效果比在電腦上看到的更好。大約40位設計人員的創意讓我經常為其中的幽默內容和精美設計拍案叫絕。但網站的功能有待改進，尤其是幫助使用者搜尋賀卡的方式；搜尋結果太容易出現問題。網站的Web 2.0功能也不夠豐富，而Web 2.0能夠改進網站的瀏覽驗，對於觀看賀卡的人來說是一個真正的福音（想象一下卡片開啟、顯示出裡面的祝福話語的動畫場面）。
Hallmark Cards Inc.是一家力爭後來居上的初創企業，可想而知它一刻也沒有閒著。其網站在提供電子賀卡之餘還出售紙質賀卡，同時它也具有提醒功能。Hallmark Cards還能定製賀卡，方法是直接將列印好問候語的賀卡寄給收件人──不過這種做法少了點親切感。同Jack Cards一樣，Hallmark也可以把賀卡寄給買家，但不提供預先貼上郵票或寫上地址的服務。
Hallmark的送貨方式也與 Jack Cards不同。一張售價2.99美元的生日賀卡運費要2.95美元，而且至少要5個工作日才能送到我手中。Jack Cards的免費送貨服務截止到明年1月份，但該公司的收費一般是0.99美元，時間為2到3個工作日；而且這是一個包裹的固定費用，裡面裝多少張賀卡都可以。
任何人無需註冊，就可以直接在上瀏覽1,000多種賀卡。有興趣加入該網站的人只要輸入使用者名稱、密碼、電子郵件和生日就能免費成為會員。網站會要求會員輸入一份與自己關係最密切的“五人名單”，如父母、兄弟姐妹、好朋友或是要好的同事。
“五人名單”中的每一項都包括姓名、地址和同此人有關的重要事件。我給父母列出的是結婚紀念日、母親節或父親節、生日和聖誕節。讓我感到有點震驚的是，我還發現了一個標記為“求婚紀念日”的事件，不過我想，Jack Cards考慮到了各種情況。
網站的結構還有優化空間。“五人名單”頁面上所有人的各種資料密密麻麻，讓人眼花繚亂，而且，從一個聯絡人跳到另一個聯絡人也比人想象的要困難。我進入聯絡人名下的重大事件，點選旁邊的超級連結，結果進入了一個賀卡的綜合瀏覽頁面，而不是同具體紀念日有關的頁面。這些額外步驟令人覺得繁瑣不便。
下拉搜尋工具條可以讓你選擇情景、賀卡風格（幽默、童真、浪漫等）、收件人和設計者。在賀卡上移動游標，就可以看到封面和內頁內容、大小及賀卡顏色。
讓我感到奇怪的是一些與母親有關的生日賀卡。沒有一張賀卡上寫有“媽媽生日快樂” 。問題是，因為沒有這句話，這些賀卡都顯得主題不夠明確。其中一張賀卡上寫的是，“多年以後，你還會對這張生日賀卡念念不忘，因為誰知道我還會不會再想起你的生日。祝你生日快樂。”我無法想象誰會給自己的母親寄這樣一張賀卡。該公司還在繼續改進其搜尋功能，以讓搜尋結果更加精確。
但Jack Cards的確讓我看到了一些以前從未見過的充滿靈感的原創作品。Masha D'yans設計的顏色精美的賀卡一下就抓住了我的眼球，它們看起來不像賀卡，而更像是水彩畫。
我買了大概25張各式各樣的賀卡，讓公司寄給我，其中一些預貼郵票，並以別緻的字型填上了收件人和我的地址，其餘的則沒有貼郵票和寫地址。方形賀卡的郵寄費稍高（為0.58美元，其它為0.41美元），不過Jack Cards會替你貼上相應面值的郵票。比起放在貨架上讓來來往往的路人隨意開啟的賀卡，這些賀卡的份量和質量以及藝術品位更顯獨特。為了在郵寄過程中保持乾淨，許多賀卡都有單獨的塑料封套包裝。
在我看來，如果Jack Cards能夠繼續改進網站的導航和搜尋功能，其質量上乘、設計考究而又能吸引眼球的賀卡會受到很多人的歡迎。它讓使用者免於在最後一刻去購買賀卡的匆忙，同時又保持了賀卡的親切感，而正是這一點讓賀卡成為我們生活中不可或缺的組成部分。
