Goodbye To Apple iCards? Say ‘Ugh’ To Postcard

C. Reed said:

I tried 4icards.com - LOVIN IT! Soooo similar to apple’s now defunct icards - totally on point. AND… popcard.me? I appreciate the try but 4icards has my heart since apple dumped me. Thanks anyway…. 4iCards.com? URok!!!

MacSmiley said:

BTW, do you really think PostCard‘s ‘unlicensed’ watermark is an issue, here’s a little perspective… Posterino’s watermark:

http://img.skitch.com/20081026-dfp9nahhpeda68d1asuk5644ek.png

Ya pays yer $25 ya gets yer app, and that humongous watermark goes away.

With the PostCard demo, at least you can read your text without interference.

MacSmiley said:

... continued…

I have just started a new Flickr photo page with a review of the up and coming PopCard.me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsmiley/3005104317/in/set-72157606929661050/

It is the ONLY online alternative to Apple’s iCards that I recommend. The man behind that website is Jamie Longstaff, author of the Pixaria gallery software well-known and well-used amongst professional photographers for their commercial websites.

http://popcard.me

4iCards.com? I <i>despise that shameful, dishonest, and substandard rip-off of the Apple iCards website.  You can read my verbal disgust about the 4iCards product (with screenshots) by clicking HERE, HERE, and HERE. )</i>

Meanwhile, if Apple came up with a new iCards service, I would probably welcome it. To be honest, however, Apple has despoiled a great deal of my hard-earned goodwill. Ditching FireWire is another example of Apple giving the raspberries to its most loyal customer base.

But that’s a whole ‘nother article.

MacSmiley said:

Sorry I wasn’t paying more attention here. (You could have sent me a heads up, Ron.)

You see, I am the reader who suggested that Ron give PostCard a try.  I am keenly dismayed by your ‘Say ugh’ pronouncement, Ron.

I think you may be using an old copy of PostCard. The last update was just this past September (v. 20080903) NOT 5 years ago. (I would never have recommended an app that long in the tooth, Ron.)

Not only is PostCard being actively developed (since July), but I myself have provided a lot of the feedback that makes the resulting postcard more like an iCard. 

For example, the iCard preset sizes in the View Menu were my idea. I have not pushed for an updated Leopard UI, since I feel it would be merely cosmetic. (I’m running Tiger anyway.)

True, Apple iCards set a very high standard. Comparing any alternative to Apple’s product is bound to aggravate our sense of loss. That’s natural. No one knows that more than I do. I have an entire Flickr photoset devoted to the subject called “iCards no more”:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsmiley/sets/72157606929661050/

The first image in that photoset has almost 4,200 views!  But I’ve been so focused on this for so long, people in my life are starting to write “Get on with your life” posts under my photos.

At any rate, here are a few things to keep in mind:

•  Were Apple iCards free?  Well, sort of. Not exactly. They were actually subsidized by our $99/year .Mac memberships!!

•  Steps: Did you ever count how many clicks and steps it took to make a custom iCard??  Consider launching your web browser to be the first step. Remember how long it took to upload an image to your iDisk and and then fetch it the iCards UI??  PostCard doesn’t really demand many more steps… just different steps.

•  Images:  Apple’s images were stylish, beautiful, and funny. I have spent hours combing the WWW looking for Apple iCards that people have uploaded, recycling them by removing the text and postmarks. I even found a couple hundred “virgin” Apple iCard images. You may download them here for personal use only:

http://homepage.mac.com/mac.zooks/FileSharing42.html

Personally, I am grateful for PostCard’s existence. My recipients like the cards I create with it just as much as they did Apple’s cards. I enjoy having TextEdit capabilities and putting images, like smileys, in the message area. The stamp library is just another opportunity for creativity. Take a look:

http://img.skitch.com/20081028-ra475hssrik63x9ibg3h5tcrh5.png

(Drop shadow was made with Skitch, because this was a post in a Flickr comment. I don’t add drop shadows to the cards I mail.)

Instead of copying and pasting your card, just choose Open in Apple Mail from PostCard’s Tool Menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-A, and your postcard will pop up an email ready for addressing.

I have written my own reviews of various software solutions here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsmiley/2837686361/in/set-72157606929661050/

which starts with my review of PostCard, then continues on with Kyn Drake’s free kCard Keynote iCard templates, Fun Card Maker, Audio Postcard, and Posterino.

Syd said:

I came across a descent one today; 4iCards anyone tried it. Interestingly they have option to make your own postcard.

Drifter_PTY said:

Have you guys tried Skitch?  It is currently in Beta form, but it allowes you to capture images directly from Safari, and then edditing and adding text, and many other features.

Find it at:
http://skitch.com/

Dah-veed said:

Iranian Cards?  They’re in english even.  They must collect your email address and then use it to solicit funds to sponsor people who want to defeat the “great satan”.  Though why Iran would want to defeat Mircosoft is a mystery to me.  

Now defeating AT&T, that I can understand…

in a small town... said:

No mention of the Iranian Cards site?
http://4icards.com/default.asp

Shame on you for not wanting the
red lights to flash, and bells to ring
over at the FBI for using this; but
it does work a lot like the old iCards.

A few of the images in there are the
same, donated by the original folks.

~ in a small town ...