Are business cards still useful?

Printed business cards seem surprisingly resilient.

We live in an era when people regularly tout smart phones and other pocket-sized gizmos. Meanwhile social networking tools are everywhere.

Getting and staying in touch with other people has never been easier.

So you'd think the days of printed business cards would be numbered. But they are not.

My collection continues to grow at the same steady rate it always did. I understand it is the same for other people.

What's going on?

There are two reasons business cards are not going to disappear in the immediate future.

• First, printed paper is universal. You don't need to have the right hardware or operating system to access the data on a business card. Moreover, you don't need to worry about batteries running flat or the print on paper technology being updated to the point where old cards are no longer readable.
• Second, there's an etiquette attached to business cards that has yet to transfer to the digital realm. Think of the polite bows and protocols that come in to play when exchanging business cards with Japanese people.

In some ways, business cards are a metaphor for any kind of printed media.

Despite this, the technology surrounding business cards has changed in recent years. I scan cards and pull the data into electronic address books. I've known others to use their phone cameras to shoot business cards and store the images. This makes it much easier to find a contact at a later date.

How much longer will business cards remain mandatory and what will replace them. If you know, please leave a comment below: