Roshni Contractor is 20 years old, and doesn't like ecards: "I prefer buying cards that can be touched and felt. It is the tangible quality that preserves the personal touch".
A surprise admission given the fact that at the height of their popularity electronic greeting cards were a riot -- popular enough to have some people wonder whether they would kill sales of actual cards. The latter remain relatively untouched though.
The question, then, is why do people still buy greeting cards when the Internet offers them a thousand free alternatives?
"I think cards -- as opposed to e-cards -- are more permanent," observes Roshan Sharma. Melodie Rodrigues agrees: "When someone sends me an e-card, I look at it and then delete it. However, I always treasure cards sent by snail mail, and keep them for years".
Some don't even bother viewing these cards before deleting them. Kenneth Sequeira, for one, dislikes them, "because most of them have flash, and this takes considerable time to process. And, since I hate receiving flash cards, I don't send any either."
Janice Fonseca points out another reason for the decline in the popularity of e-cards: Poor selection. "Most have ridiculous animation. When I want to send a good card, I go for an actual one." Romesh Roy chips in: "E-cards give recipients the message that you don't care enough to send a really good one."
And yes, despite the fact that these cards come free, those without Internet access still have to shell out around 25 bucks at cyber cafés. At that price, why wouldn't they opt for a real card? Moreover, not everyone can receive e-cards. As Manish Sekar points out, "My grandmother doesn't log on, so I have to send her a card by post".
For students, another big issue is that of an allowance. Binaifer Khan, 15, prefers actual cards, but can't afford them as often as she would like to. She therefore sends "real cards to addresses in India and e-cards to friends abroad".
Others, like Chand Gulati, like doing things the old-fashioned way: "I love the ambience in a card shop, the process of browsing with my friends, and finally picking something nice". So does Roxanne Correia. But doesn't she find it expensive? "Oh well", she replies cheekily, "just because I step into a card shop doesn't mean I will step out with a purchase!"
Now, if you want a simple reason why people chose real cards over virtual ones, Carly Matthews has the bottom-line: "Its just more meaningful".
So the next time you need to send that 'special someone' a card, what will you pick - real or virtual? Better still, why not send both?
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