Electronic greetings, or e-cards, have come a long way since their debut as one-dimensional postcards and now can include animation, slideshows and personal narration.

These digital creations save forgetful friends who don't think far enough in advance to buy and send snail-mail cards. However, even the hippest e-cards, such as customizable cartoons from political parody site JibJab.com, are no match for paper cards with thoughtfully penned sentiments.

Rather than fight the ever-popular, old-school cards, the digital world is trying to improve the way people buy and send those cards. This week I tested a Web site called www.jackcards.com, which sends email reminders a month before important dates and offers to ship paper cards one, two, or four weeks before an event. The cards can arrive pre-stamped and pre-addressed, so you need only add your own hand-written message before dropping them in the mail.

Jack Cards LLC of Boston based its business after the notion that an imaginary correspondence butler named 'Jack' could take care of you, making you look like the friend/spouse/relative/boss of the year. Its cards range from $1.50 to $6 each, plus the cost of a stamp if you opt to get the card pre-stamped; U.S. shipping is free throughout December.

My primary skepticism about Jack Cards was its content: Did it offer enough variety to justify buying cards without seeing them? Would its cards be funny enough to send my uncle into a fit of laughter? And would they be like the tear-jerkers best friends see in stores and buy for one another for no reason?

Jack Cards prides itself on unique offerings that can't be found in the local drugstore, and I found that its cards fit the bill for many occasions. It's worth noting the cards looked even better in person, created by about 40 designers who left me both scratching my head over some of their humor and cooing over their beautiful designs. But the functionality of the site needs to improve, especially in the way it helps users search through cards; too often, results were hit and miss. And it doesn't incorporate enough rich Web 2.0 features, which could improve navigation on the site and be a real boon for looking at cards (imagine an inset animation of a card opening and revealing its message inside).

Predictably, Hallmark Cards Inc. isn't sitting idly by as a start-up tries to steals its thunder. Its Web site, Hallmark.com, sells paper cards in addition to e-cards and it, too, can remind you of coming events. Its way of personalizing cards is to send them directly to recipients with a message typed inside -- a method that isn't as personal. Like Jack Cards, Hallmark offers to mail cards to buyers to send out but doesn't pre-stamp or pre-address anything.

Hallmark also differs from Jack Cards in the shipping department. A $2.99 birthday card from Hallmark.com cost $2.95 to be shipped to me -- and wouldn't arrive at my door for five business days. The free shipping offer from Jack Cards will end in January, but the company normally charges 99 cents for two- to three-day shipping; this flat fee applies to a package filled with any number of cards.

Without signing in, anyone can browse through the more than 1,000 cards on JackCards.com. Those interested in joining the site can do so for free after entering a name, password, email and birthday. Members are asked to enter a list of the 'Fast Five' -- people with whom they most often correspond, such as parents, siblings, best friends or close colleagues.

Each of the Fast Five is set up with a name, address and list of events that correspond to the person; I listed my parents with their anniversary, Mother's Day or Father's Day, birthdays and Christmas. I was a little stunned to find an event titled 'Will You Marry Me?' but I suppose Jack Cards thought of everything.

The site could stand to be better organized. The page filled with data on each of my Fast Five seemed jumbled, and jumping from one contact to another wasn't as easy as it should be. Hyperlinks beside the events I entered for these people directed me to a general browsing page for cards instead of to a page specifically related to an event. These extra steps gave the page a clumsy feel.

Drop-down search toolbars let you choose the occasion, style of card (Humor, Just For Kids, Romantic etc.), recipient and designer. Each card's front and inside messages, size and paper color are identified as you move your cursor over them.

I was stunned by some of the Mother-specific birthday cards. None of the cards said 'Happy Birthday, Mom,' which was a problem because without that, the cards all seemed ambiguous. A card in this search said, 'You are going to cherish this birthday card years from now. Cuz who knows if I'll remember your birthday again. Happy Birthday.' I can't think of anyone who would give such a card to a mother. The company continues to improve its searching to be more accurate.

But Jack Cards did introduce me to some clever and original material that I never would've seen in my CVS. Beautifully colorful cards made by Masha D'yans caught my eye immediately and looked more like watercolor paintings than cards.

I bought a good variety of about 25 cards and had them sent to me, some stamped and pre-labeled with my return address and the recipient's address typed in attractive script, others without any stamp or label. Square cards cost more to mail (58 cents compared with 41 cents), but Jack Cards will give you the appropriate stamp. The weight and quality of the cards, along with their artistic attributes, made them feel more special than something that has been picked up from a shelf and opened by a hundred passersby. Many cards were individually packaged in plastic wrappers to stay clean en route.

If Jack Cards can continue to work on its site's navigation and search functions, I think its system would be welcomed by many people looking for good-quality, well-designed cards that catch the eye. It saves users the hassle of last-minute trips to the card store, and still lets greeting cards keep their personal touch, which is what makes them such a permanent fixture in our lives.


从最初模仿形式单一的明信片，到现在加入了动画、幻灯片和真人语音，电子贺卡问世以来走过了一段漫长的道路。

这些数字创意拯救了记不起提前购买和寄出传统贺卡的健忘的朋友。不过，即使是做得最棒的电子贺卡，比如来自政治讽刺网站JibJab.com的定制漫画，在表达情感方面也无法同精心手写的纸质贺卡相比。

数字世界并未排斥这种曾经广为流行的老式贺卡，而是在努力改进人们购买和发送这些贺卡的方式。本周，我测试了一个名为www.jackcards.com的网站。该网站会在重要日期到来前一个月用电子邮件提醒你，并在重要日期的一周、两周或四周前将贴好邮票、写上地址的贺卡寄送到你手中，你要做的只是亲笔写上祝福的话语，然后投到邮筒中就万事大吉了。

波士顿Jack Cards LLC的业务模式就是：一个名为“杰克”(Jack)的虚拟通信管家会替你考虑周到，让你成为称职的朋友/配偶/亲戚/老板。其贺卡的售价从每张1.50 美元到6美元不等，如果你希望预贴邮票，那就外加邮票钱；今年12月在美国范围内免收运费。

我对Jack Cards的主要疑虑在于其内容：它的花样多不多，是否足以令人不用亲眼看到就决心购买？贺卡是否足够搞笑，让我的叔叔收到后能畅怀大笑？是不是像商店中一些的东西那样感人至深，让人一看到就会毫不犹豫地买下来送给朋友？

让Jack Cards引以为傲的是，它的贺卡独具匠心，在各地商店里是无法找到的。我发现这些贺卡能够满足许多场合下的需要。值得一提的是，这些贺卡的实物效果比在电脑上看到的更好。大约40位设计人员的创意让我经常为其中的幽默内容和精美设计拍案叫绝。但网站的功能有待改进，尤其是帮助用户搜索贺卡的方式；搜索结果太容易出现问题。网站的Web 2.0功能也不够丰富，而Web 2.0能够改进网站的浏览验，对于观看贺卡的人来说是一个真正的福音（想象一下卡片打开、显示出里面的祝福话语的动画场面）。

Hallmark Cards Inc.是一家力争后来居上的初创企业，可想而知它一刻也没有闲着。其网站Hallmark.com在提供电子贺卡之余还出售纸质贺卡，同时它也具有提醒功能。Hallmark Cards还能定制贺卡，方法是直接将打印好问候语的贺卡寄给收件人──不过这种做法少了点亲切感。同Jack Cards一样，Hallmark也可以把贺卡寄给买家，但不提供预先粘贴邮票或写上地址的服务。

Hallmark的送货方式也与 Jack Cards不同。Hallmark.com一张售价2.99美元的生日贺卡运费要2.95美元，而且至少要5个工作日才能送到我手中。Jack Cards的免费送货服务截止到明年1月份，但该公司的收费一般是0.99美元，时间为2到3个工作日；而且这是一个包裹的固定费用，里面装多少张贺卡都可以。

任何人无需注册，就可以直接在JackCards.com上浏览1,000多种贺卡。有兴趣加入该网站的人只要输入用户名、密码、电子邮件和生日就能免费成为会员。网站会要求会员输入一份与自己关系最密切的“五人名单”，如父母、兄弟姐妹、好朋友或是要好的同事。

“五人名单”中的每一项都包括姓名、地址和同此人有关的重要事件。我给父母列出的是结婚纪念日、母亲节或父亲节、生日和圣诞节。让我感到有点震惊的是，我还发现了一个标记为“求婚纪念日”的事件，不过我想，Jack Cards考虑到了各种情况。

网站的结构还有优化空间。“五人名单”页面上所有人的各种数据密密麻麻，让人眼花缭乱，而且，从一个联系人跳到另一个联系人也比人想象的要困难。我进入联系人名下的重大事件，点击旁边的超级链接，结果进入了一个贺卡的综合浏览页面，而不是同具体纪念日有关的页面。这些额外步骤令人觉得繁琐不便。

下拉搜索工具条可以让你选择情景、贺卡风格（幽默、童真、浪漫等）、收件人和设计者。在贺卡上移动光标，就可以看到封面和内页内容、大小及贺卡颜色。

让我感到奇怪的是一些与母亲有关的生日贺卡。没有一张贺卡上写有“妈妈生日快乐” 。问题是，因为没有这句话，这些贺卡都显得主题不够明确。其中一张贺卡上写的是，“多年以后，你还会对这张生日贺卡念念不忘，因为谁知道我还会不会再想起你的生日。祝你生日快乐。”我无法想象谁会给自己的母亲寄这样一张贺卡。该公司还在继续改进其搜索功能，以让搜索结果更加精确。

但Jack Cards的确让我看到了一些以前从未见过的充满灵感的原创作品。Masha D'yans设计的颜色精美的贺卡一下就抓住了我的眼球，它们看起来不像贺卡，而更像是水彩画。

我买了大概25张各式各样的贺卡，让公司寄给我，其中一些预贴邮票，并以别致的字体填上了收件人和我的地址，其余的则没有贴邮票和写地址。方形贺卡的邮寄费稍高（为0.58美元，其它为0.41美元），不过Jack Cards会替你贴上相应面值的邮票。比起放在货架上让来来往往的路人随意打开的贺卡，这些贺卡的份量和质量以及艺术品位更显独特。为了在邮寄过程中保持干净，许多贺卡都有单独的塑料封套包装。

在我看来，如果Jack Cards能够继续改进网站的导航和搜索功能，其质量上乘、设计考究而又能吸引眼球的贺卡会受到很多人的欢迎。它让用户免于在最后一刻去购买贺卡的匆忙，同时又保持了贺卡的亲切感，而正是这一点让贺卡成为我们生活中不可或缺的组成部分。