Today, people send e-cards as easily as they once mailed off traditional cards. In fact, they probably do so with greater frequency since it requires less lead time and no stamps. Whether the card is animated, static or is one of several free music ecards online, it is easy to select, add the appropriate message and send. This is one of the attractions of ecards. In fact, we are so accustomed to them, it is hard to realize that they have only existed since the 1990s.
The Beginning of the E-Card
In 1994, Judith Donath (1962 – ) created the first e-cards. This was The Electric Postcard. Donath did her doctoral work at the MIT Media Lab. A slow process that eventually turned into a landslide as the popularity of this new take on an old form of traditional or conventional communication took off. What were originally only 10 to 20 ecards a day zipping through space turned into 19,000 per day on some days in the Christmas season of 1995-1996.
The popularity and obvious usefulness of this new form of cultural communication led to the GNN Best of the Net award in 1995. Donath included her findings in her doctoral thesis “Inhabiting the Virtual City” published in 1996. What impressed itself upon on her was not what the electronic postcard was capable of as a medium – using all the bells and whistles to connect to the net and various topics, but why people were drawn to use it. She stated in her thesis:
“The appeal appears to be more social …. The most significant function of the postcard, and the reason, I believe, for the great popularity of The Electric Postcard, is that they allow people to keep in touch without having to actually say anything.”
The E-Card Evolves
After the cord was made available from ITT, e-card producers and sites began to proliferate. Moreover, the e-card began to evolve. From a simple visual art with to capability to add a message, they have become animated and even in-your-face creations with greater choice of selectable greetings. You can obtain free music ecards online easily. There are drop-down lists from which to make a musical choice, change a verse or alter other aspects of the card. You can even construct your own card on some sites.
Today’s E-Cards
Today, technology offers you more choices. Yet, one thing, besides the social and cultural nature of the ecards, remains constant. This is the delivery system. Your email, unlike the postman, does not deliver the card to the box. Instead a link appears. It is then up to the recipient to click the link or cut and paste it to see the ecard – chosen from hundreds of other free music ecards, online and appearing exactly as the sender intended it to.
