Great point. Please consider this as well: when you receive a card in the mail do you think about the person going to the store and buying the card or do you think it's special because it's a handwritten card?
At the end of the process a Felt card feels authentic. I'd love to write you one if you'd like. Just email me you address.
When someone gets a card from a store, writes it herself and sends it, it shows a certain amount of appreciation and worth to the one she sends it, not because it was bought in a store, handwritten and sent but because it costs time and effort. If you send a card in this way you are showing someone that he or she is worth that cost and thereby that this someone is important to you.
Felt will never feel as "authentic" as the very premise of the app is to reduce, if not eliminate, the reason for sending handwritten cards.
I agree a product like Felt might never feel as authentic as the real thing, but I don't think that's necessarily a problem.
Some people prefer to hand-write letters and will probably do so until they die. Some occasions require hand-written letters and will probably do so for a very long time to come. (Felt technically is hand-writing so I guess I mean non-digital hand-writing... Do we need to invent a new term?)
I don't think Felt is necessarily trying to compete with the above, it's simply trying to offer a middle-ground between text messages and inked letters. If we look at how quickly communication has changed (some might say devolved) over the last twenty years... wouldn't a product like Felt be a step in the right direction?
Yes, all card images are photos of actual Felt cards written using the app. So, thanks! Some are written using a finger and some are written using a stylus. We found that it comes down to personal preference. A stylus is easier for most people, but some prefer to interact using their finger.
We had the same concern so we designed each step of sending a card to be authentic - down to hand addressing the addresses on the envelope. You handwrite it all. But yes, you do skip going to the store and messing with stamps.
Curious, is there a link to your site on the printed card? It's a better user experience for the recipient if they don't know how the hot dogs are made.
A much debated topic around here as well! We decided to put our logo on the back of the card (small) with "from my iPad" underneath it. Thus far the response has been "oh, cool!" (with a hint of "interesting") rather than "oh - this is crappy and cheap"
You are essentially sacrificing your product's value for word of mouth.
He very clearly mentioned that the response has been more warm and positive than negative. So it seems obvious to me that they are not sacrificing their product's value at all.
"He very clearly mentioned that the response has been more warm and positive than negative."
Maybe that's true so far, but I suspect the early-adopter users are more forgiving of a lot of things. The hockey-stick users might be less so, and IMHO they need to be looking forward to those.
He can tout that all he wants, recipients of cards aren't going to be giving direct feedback and the sender is going to be thanked regardless. Having 'made with iPad' cheapens the card anyhow, throw your brand on it, and stop being greedy.
