E Wants To Be The Future of Networking
In this web-enabled world of ours, you have to wonder why business cards are still so popular. Shouldn't there be a better way? A number of startups have attempted to address this problem with ingenious solutions that range from iPhone apps to custom URLs. Others are calling for the use of QR Codes for mobile data exchange. Unfortunately, no one service has hit the sweet spot just yet, but newcomer "E" thinks they have it figured out. Will "E" succeed where the others have failed? Or is this one industry that refuses to become digitized?
HelloMyNameIsE.com
You have to appreciate E's creative URL - it's memorable, but also makes you curious. E? What's E?, you wonder. When I first encountered the URL, it was in a tweet which read "I'm now using E to add friends to my Twitter account. More info on http://hellomynameise.com." Did I click though? You bet.
"E," as it turns out, is a new spin on digital contact exchange. Instead of using paper business cards, you use your phone to exchange data. At first, you may think that sounds very much like mobile contact service Dropcard, but it's not. The only similarity between E and Dropcard is that they both allow you to customize your profile online and share it with others, but the similarities end there.
To use Dropcard, you either text or use a mobile app which emails your contact info to the person you just met. With E, you go to a mobile web URL that lets you exchange a passcode with your new contact. The passcode is simply a five-digit code which is entered into the mobile web app itself. They show your theirs, you show them yours...that sort of thing. Once connected, you don't receive an email message with their contact info like with Dropcard. E goes a step further and actually adds that contact to all the services you've already integrated with E.
Service Integration
At the moment, E allows you to integrate Twitter, PICNIC (a network for the PICNIC conference), and Soocial. However, Delicious, European social portal Netlog, and LastFM are listed as coming soon. After you integrate these services with E, when you add a contact they're immediately added to all those other web services, too. And thanks to Soocial, an address book solution, E contact info can also synchronize with your email address book in Gmail, Highrise, your OSX address book, or the address book on your phone itself.
Barriers To Adoption
E faces one of the typical problems that many web 2.0 startups do - they don't work for you until a lot of people are using it. Just because you have a profile on E, that doesn't mean that those you meet do. And unlike a service like Dropcard, there isn't a way to use E without the other person's involvement.
In addition to the service itself, the developers of E came up with a crazy but interesting idea for a hardware device called the "Connector." With this device, you can exchange contact info with others just by touching the two connectors together. While gadget junkies and shiny object collectors may find this device appealing, it could easily remain a niche gadget that ends up sitting on the shelf next to your Chumby and Nazbaztag. To cross the adoption barrier, those at E would be smart to sponsor events where everyone gets a Connector at registration. After a few high-profile events, they would have industry movers and shakers on board, and that's always a good place to start. Sponsoring events may be just what the company is planning, though, since their site mentions that the "Connector will be released at large events in the near future."
Will It Work?
At present, the E service is very basic. Twitter integration is the only service of note that works yet. (Soocial looks great, but is in private beta). The profiles themselves are also not as flexible as those with Dropcard are. You can easily add and remove services with Dropcard, but with E, I wasn't even able to add a second company that represents my second job. The services section of the web site is confusing - it doesn't allow you to do anything more than customize which services are connected. The actual profile information is entered under "Settings," so you can't specify that only personal contacts get your home address, for example. It appears to be all-or-nothing.
E still has far to go to become a truly successful digital contact exchange service, but at least they're trying something different. Because they operate via mobile URL, not an app specific to any one device, they're better positioned for more universal adoption that a service that designates itself as iPhone-only, for example.
The service is in private beta testing now, but you have the opportunity to make an impassioned plea as to why they should invite you on the signup page here. (If you get in, feel free to add me: 17975.)
Check out the video below to see E in action:
Hello, my name is E from Renato Valdés Olmos on Vimeo.
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Signed up so we'll see what happens.
Posted by: Paul W. Swansen
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September 29, 2008 10:11 AM
"A number of startups have attempted to address this problem with ingenious solutions that range from iPhone apps to custom URLs."
Where exactly is the Problem? Business cards are exchanged face to face. After a meeting I dont want to spend the additional time logging into some crappy web site to manage my business contacts. Not least because the chances of the said web site being in existence months and years in the future are generally very slim.
This is yet another example of a solution looking for a problem. In short.. it wont work and nobody (except those living in the Valley echo chamber) will use it.
I saw the pictures of this via Flickr.
Another big barrier to success is the limited number of services available. LinkedIn and Facebook are glaring omissions, and there are a number of smaller services (FriendFeed for one) that should be listed.
Sarah,
Thank you for sharing the information. This one is an interesting service. I think now more and more startups start to address the issue of identity overload. However, they all missed one thing---without first solving the problem of individual, it is nearly impossible to solve the problem of individual identity.
I think the audience is still not getting that yet. The closest one is Imindi; but it gets hostile reception and few really know what it is working on. But I look for more creative thinking on this topic. Because of the financial crisis, the solution may come faster than it might be.
Always appreciate your insight and analysis.
cheers,
Yihong
Your E-id isn't working...
Dedicated hardware? Hopefully its optional and not a requirement. Can someone please give me an example when software tied to dedicated hardware has ever succeeded?
Interesting. I like to see all of these business related ideas pop up. I do think that these issues of having physical items vs virtual items are going to take some time to figure out. It is a big shift in thinking. I am excited to see where it goes though.
Brian
http://www.konnects.com
Yeah great but can someone clearly state what the Problem with business cards are?? are they>>
- to big?
- too heavy?
- too difficult to enter into Outlook et al?
- do not contain enough information?
- are difficult to use without a manual?
What exactly is the Problem with business cards?
@Anne Jan: It appears your E-ID changes each time you display it, so now it's 11284. But if you don't see my response right away, that probably won't work either.
@Jason: The problem is I want them in my digital address books, but the only way to get them in there is through manual entry. If you've ever been to a conference or other type of networking event, you'll know that you return with a huge stack of cards...it's time-consuming to enter everyone into your address book, so it often never gets done. The contact info never ends up somewhere you can actually use it!
(That's why I decided my next business cards are going to have a QR Code on them.)
I think this will make a big change for real. Although now basic but is getting a lot of popularity.
I started using a scanner for business card collections about 6 years ago. Now, it is one of the interns or fresh hires that scans all the biz cards into salesforce.
The old-timers in our office love to get physical cards and keep rolodexes, lol!
"private beta"
Why do you tease me, RWW?
Posted by: mchelen.myopenid.com
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September 30, 2008 9:58 PM
Very nice information about business card. Different size of a business cards so we can distribute in professionals. We have design a business card. http://www.uvcards.com
Thanks
Everytime a service is Beta is not the best program to use. Will see if they release a 1.0 version and maybe will work better.