While clearing up old mess at home, you are sure to find greeting cards dated as long back as a decades, reminding you of the times when celebrations meant exchanging cards. But, with technology seeping into our lives, greeting card purchase is now a lost habit for many of us.
Tech-savvy people say that the Short Message Services (SMSs), e-cards serve as better replacements for greeting cards. “E-card sharing is easier and most importantly, free. An e-card also gives one the option of animation. One can send personalised cards to a large number of people, which is very expedient,” says Arun Gowtham, a 27-year-old robotic engineer.
M.A. Haq, Manager at the Begumpet Landmark Book Store states that the store’s income through greeting cards has fallen sharply from Rs.75,000 five years ago to Rs. 10,000 these days with a lot of young adults going in for e-cards.
Eco-friendly
“People prefer the eco-friendly concept of e-cards. But the memories that a preserved card holds cannot be acquired through e-cards,” he feels. There is every chance of the cards section of the store being obliterated if the decreasing demand for cards continues.
Novelty store owners in the city find people opting for gifts over greeting cards. Reema, a college student, considers buying gifts for her friends a better option to make her friends happy rather than gifting greeting cards. “I find it better to buy my friends gifts that they can use instead of going for cards,” Reema says.
Samvartha, a media student, says, “I am an old timer. I would always pick greeting cards as I hold them close to my heart. There is a human touch to greeting cards and they have their own essence, which is missing in the case of e-cards,” says the media student.
Neil Postman, a cultural critic talking about the irreparable changes caused in a technology-driven society said, “Technology giveth and technology taketh away, but not always in equal measure.” The gradually dying form of greeting cards stands as an example of the existing dominance of technology over people.
