Show HN: Felt – Personal, handwritten cards mailed from your iPad | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Felt – Personal, handwritten cards mailed from your iPad

feltapp.com

154 pointstalpert94 comments

This is not true "handwriting," it is a printing of handwriting. This sort of practice is usually imperfect, and the fact that the note is not written at all is generally pretty conspicuous.

Frankly, I think that most people would view this as disingenuous. The whole point of handwritten cards is that their supposed to be, uhhh, handwritten. A printout of something written seems sort of perfunctory, and isn't really better than simply sending a typed note. Indeed, the fact that one is attempting to forgo the work of writing a real card and instead using something like this will just dilute the sentiment of the gesture and appear lazy.

completely agreed.

As novel as this app is, I agree. The only market I can see this app appealing to is teeny boppers that have no sense of etiquette.

What this app needs is a way to _design_ your own card, so there actually is a reason to have it digitally created. Think clipart + calligraphy with custom papers/stipling. Now you've got a real product.

Great point. Please consider this as well: when you receive a card in the mail do you think about the person going to the store and buying the card or do you think it's special because it's a handwritten card?

At the end of the process a Felt card feels authentic. I'd love to write you one if you'd like. Just email me you address.

When someone gets a card from a store, writes it herself and sends it, it shows a certain amount of appreciation and worth to the one she sends it, not because it was bought in a store, handwritten and sent but because it costs time and effort. If you send a card in this way you are showing someone that he or she is worth that cost and thereby that this someone is important to you.

Felt will never feel as "authentic" as the very premise of the app is to reduce, if not eliminate, the reason for sending handwritten cards.

I agree a product like Felt might never feel as authentic as the real thing, but I don't think that's necessarily a problem.

Some people prefer to hand-write letters and will probably do so until they die. Some occasions require hand-written letters and will probably do so for a very long time to come. (Felt technically is hand-writing so I guess I mean non-digital hand-writing... Do we need to invent a new term?)

I don't think Felt is necessarily trying to compete with the above, it's simply trying to offer a middle-ground between text messages and inked letters. If we look at how quickly communication has changed (some might say devolved) over the last twenty years... wouldn't a product like Felt be a step in the right direction?

The first thing I thought of was how oxymoronic the title was. Spot on.

There's a service a lot of... how do I say... wannabe entrepreneurs and MLM people use called SendOutCards. It is meant to appear handwritten (you can choose between a few different fonts), and they use it to send cards for birthdays, 'thanks for the meeting', and mass mailings. THEY think it makes them appear like they care, like they're amazing, and like they took the time to write you a handwritten card.

You're not stupid, and after you've gotten a few of these, it's just pathetic and has the opposite effect. (Plus, SendOutCards is plastered all over the back of the card with a referral code so the person can sign you up - cause it's an MLM!)

Felt isn't trying to attract that same type of user. And it's actually your handwriting. I think, when it's real people genuinely using this to be real - it WILL come across with the right sentiment. I like what they're doing.

I think what matters most is the hand-lettering, not how the ink got on the page. What you seem to be missing is the fact that the emotional impact of a handwritten card comes from the handmade letterforms of the writer, not the ink. This, of course, would preserve that.

I think you might be doing that "my default is to just find fault" thing that someone was writing about in a blog post that got submitted to HN in the last few days. This looks like a nice service, and while I would never send a handwritten card myself (I hate to write by hand), I would be touched to receive one of these, even if it had come out of a printer.

IMO, what matters most is how much effort the sender was willing to spend on sending the note. That's where the emotional impact comes from.

Because of that, people have learned to discriminate between modern computer print, classical printing, and handwriting (the latter two leave impressions on the paper), so that they can distinguish the real thing from, say, a personalized "Congratulations, mr. Smith, you have won a million" letter sent by some marketing department.

There wouldn't be much point in it if it wasn't easier than making an actual handwritten card. Handwritten cards consume an ordinarily large amount of time, but some people believe they are more authentic so there is a clear case for optimizing handwriting. As an added benefit, those who prefer handwriting will be able to receive these more often die to the reduced time and effort.

I see your point, but isn't this part of the gradual change of customs? Should I be offended that your thank you note was written with the _convenience_ of a ballpoint pen instead of quill and ink? What about the fact that your _modern_ envelop was secured with nothing more than a quick lick to the factory-applied adhesive instead of a lovingly-applied wax seal?

People should also be upset by the lack of Elizabethan English. What is this LULZ you speak of???

I remember when I ordered my mom flowers for Mother's Day (only a diplomatic gesture, since I hate the whole commercial logic of it), and she was quite upset that I had done something so impersonal as to order flowers for her online to have them delivered on the day.

I had still picked out the size and combination, mind, but something about it felt insincere to her.

Personally, I don't see a problem, but just a word of warning that some feel differently about the concept.

Perhaps a safe way to go about it is to send it to people under a certain age.

We had the same concern so we designed each step of sending a card to be authentic - down to hand addressing the addresses on the envelope. You handwrite it all. But yes, you do skip going to the store and messing with stamps.

Curious, is there a link to your site on the printed card? It's a better user experience for the recipient if they don't know how the hot dogs are made.

A much debated topic around here as well! We decided to put our logo on the back of the card (small) with "from my iPad" underneath it. Thus far the response has been "oh, cool!" (with a hint of "interesting") rather than "oh - this is crappy and cheap"

If the whole point is to disguise the effort spent, 'from my iPad' kills that premise.

You are essentially sacrificing your product's value for word of mouth.

You are essentially sacrificing your product's value for word of mouth.

He very clearly mentioned that the response has been more warm and positive than negative. So it seems obvious to me that they are not sacrificing their product's value at all.

He can tout that all he wants, recipients of cards aren't going to be giving direct feedback and the sender is going to be thanked regardless. Having 'made with iPad' cheapens the card anyhow, throw your brand on it, and stop being greedy.

"He very clearly mentioned that the response has been more warm and positive than negative."

Maybe that's true so far, but I suspect the early-adopter users are more forgiving of a lot of things. The hockey-stick users might be less so, and IMHO they need to be looking forward to those.

Seems like there's a difference here, though?

You made your choice from a set of predetermined options. Handwriting (and not handwriting-like fonts) communicates more than just words, but attitude, character, and mood as well. That level of personalization might just translate through this digital -> analog experience.

I think the best way to go about it is on a per-occasion and -person basis. A Mother's Day bouquet and card is different from a wedding RSVP.

The best way to frame this product could perhaps be in terms of convenience and design rather than personalization. This scales really well for "batch" jobs, if you're sending thank-you letters or answering fan mail, for instance. In that case, there isn't really a problem with the quasi-analogue aspect of it, especially since people know that it's taken the person time and labour to craft the letter.

The tricky aspect of it is that you are basically selling a product to two different demographics: the sender and the recipient. And getting the first one on board is, as you say, not that hard with such an interesting product.

A good rule of thumb could be to use this in general, but be cautious of using it for annual events where it already feels like we are forced to extend cultural tokens of gestures towards each other?

> Handwriting communicates more than just words, but attitude, character, and mood as well.

Actually, I think signaling theory strongly suggests that the preference for handwritten notes is rooted in its difficult and time-consuming nature (i.e. a costly signal) rather than the emotional fidelity of the communication.

Yes, that's what I also felt. I think in that case, it actually works? Because you are putting the effort of hand-writing the card - just not on the actual paper that is sent out.

I think it's probably somewhere in between. It's more work then sending an e-card, but not as much as finding paper, funding an envelope, filling everything out by hand, and mailing it.

I agree that it depersonalizes something that's suposed to signal time and effort on the part of the writer but I've used the Apple Cards app that lets you make your own photos into a card and its been a big hit.

I think in this day and age getting nice things in the mail may be enough in a lot of situations.

There are some people you can never make really happy, I guess and I am sad to say it appears your mother is one of them. That should not hold back the rest of us though.

If I was a mother, I'd rather a simple phone call than flowers ordered online from a someone that consider it to be only a diplomatic gesture and hate the whole commercial logic of it.

Ok, I was figuring the handwriting would be fake, or produced by some third party. The idea of capturing your own handwriting, and printing it on the card, is pretty ingenious.

Aren't there already a million of these apps? I know that Postcard on the Run gives you the option to scribble in your own signature, and the results are as expected: crappy.

I was hoping that this would be a service that provides real handwriting, as in, hire some professionals with beautiful handwriting and streamline the postal service. I'd use it all the time.

Also, kudos for making it iPad only :[

Is there a "send on [date]" feature? It would be nice to pre-write birthday greetings, etc.

Goo idea! Not as of yet though, but it'll come for sure!

"deliver by" would be even better

I tested this app back in December and was blown away at how realistic the "handwritten" cards looked. Selling a Felt subscription to businesses with the value-add that their sales team could quickly and easily write cards to their customers could prove very lucrative.

This is genius - great job! Also props for having the discipline to code it up from a ski resort!

For those of us who don't have ipads I would love the ability to custom send hand written cards from the web. I'd be fine with even somebody else writing them.

I love the idea, and great execution too! Just one thing - the domain, feltapp.com, sorta sounds like "felt up." I think that's pretty funny.

I was skeptical of the idea until I watched the video. Great execution!

thank you!

Awesome app.

Small thing, though - on the homepage, kind of think that when I click play on the video, it should play. Right now, it just sends me to the video, and I have to click play on the bottom left again.

Should be pretty easy to change the embed settings on the Vimeo. I had that on my website too.

Just out of curiosity, how did you get around Apple forcing you to include their payment system in everything? It looks like you need to enter your CC info through the app itself, which Apple usually gets pretty pissy about (the whole in-app purchases.)

Apple doesn't support physical goods in their payment system. Their focus is strictly on in-app tokens and DLC. My guess is that physical goods have too much potential for mistakes and require things like returns and shipping tracking.

I saw an art show here in Boston at the MFA on post cards, which were a big deal from 1890s - about the 1920s (or whenever radio came in to play): http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/postcard-age

It's inspired me to try sending hand-written, everyday postcards to friends. Not just post cards from vacation, but home made ones that would normally be photos shared to social networking. I still appreciate how great it feels to receive a handwritten piece of mail every now and then that isn't a bill. And not just reading someone's impersonal FB update.

There's nothing more irritating than receiving junk mail that has been printed to look as though it was written by hand. It's always immediately obvious and I always find it more offensive than normal junk mail because of the lame attempt to trick me into thinking someone took the time to write the letter by hand.

So in that respect, I'm pretty sure I would be just as annoyed receiving a fake hand-written card from a friend. It's not the aesthetic of handwriting that people appreciate, it's the fact that it takes time to do.

> There's nothing more irritating....

There are lots of things way more irritating than that.

You're right; there's nothing more irritating than people taking figures of speech literally.

That is not a figure of speech, just something silly to say, which adds nothing.

"junk mail that has been printed to look as though it was written by hand"

Have you ever copied some documents you've hand-signed in blue ballpoint pen on a high-quality copier (or scanner/printer)?

Aside from the indentations in the paper, they look pretty damn near identical to me. I don't have an iPad but if I did I would be giving Felt a try.

Nice idea and implementation. One tiny criticism (and an easy fix): The big red button that you tap to send your card looks _way_ too much like a cancel button.

Currently taking a long time to respond for me. Might just go find the app in the appstore as your site is getting hammered :)

yeah; we're working on it. lol

It's a great problem to have! Loved what I saw and I think I am going to drop a card for Mothers Day!

The idea is great, but you should probably change that writing tool UI.

http://www.fiftythree.com/assets/images/paper-header-bg.jpg vs. http://www.feltapp.com/assets/images/step2_ipad.jpg

They really don't look that similar. Is no one supposed to use toolbars of pens now?

I think he was implying that the functionality of Paper is far greater, not the visual similarity -- Freudian slip on your part I suppose ;)

No, I was definitely implying that it looks unnecessarily similar.

Looks pretty neat!

Do you do international posting?

Sine you haven't mentioned any separate pricing, I guess the answer is 'no' ?

Would be nice if this was mentioned somewhere.

We don't right now. And, agreed! We're adding it to our FAQ.

I built a postcard app a little while back but this definitely looks better :-)

How are you doing the fulfillment of the cards?

I really like this application and the idea. What I'd really love is if I could write the note using some kind of stylus on the iPad. Then it would truly handwritten.

My "claw" is illegible enough for people to know whether or not I really wrote something by hand or generated it on a computer.

Did you watch the video? That's exactly what it does.

I'd say the major issue is that the iPad doesn't "quite" do stylus work well - if you watch the video, the woman doesn't rest her palms on the device when using the stylus. If that actually is supported, I'd be thrilled.

I'm pretty good just signing and writing with my finger on a touch surface regardless - I'll have to try it out - I'd love to be able to send something through an app with such an authentic look.

People have always spoken about why 'palm rejection' is important, and I never understood why. I didn't rest my hand on my iPad when I wrote. Then, it came to me. Being left-handed, I could never rest my hand on a page as I would get ink/graphite all over it.

Maybe those of us who were less fortunate in the 'handedness' area actually write better on electronic surfaces with styluses.

Felt actually does have a pane that you can pull out to block input where you might rest your palm, and the quality using just a finger is surprisingly good.

This is a great idea, I really like it. I wish I had come up with it.

Also, your page needs a <meta charset=utf-8>. You have mojibake here: http://www.feltapp.com/faq.php

This looks like something I could use! When does the Android version come out?

We'll know once we get a bit further down the road. Thanks for the shout out!

It would be great available from outside the US. Instead of going through the trouble of international shipping, one could use this service to send to US residents.

At least that's what I use iCards for now.

Can multiple people sign the same card like a yearbook page from separate ipads? I think that would really add value since it replaces the need for everyone to be in the same room.

Quick question: Are the cards at the bottom good examples of how your printer will render the handwriting (and were they made with or without a stylus)?

If so, bravo -- they look great!

Follow-up: And how are you sourcing your card designs? I know a few artists who I'm sure would love to talk to you.

Yes, all card images are photos of actual Felt cards written using the app. So, thanks! Some are written using a finger and some are written using a stylus. We found that it comes down to personal preference. A stylus is easier for most people, but some prefer to interact using their finger.

Nothing replaces a real handwritten thank you note but for a business person who has to write a lot of them... It looks like the next best alternative

Nice. What is your hardware setup? Is it some fancy automatic machine, or do you fold the card, seal the envelope and add the stamp per hand?

"MEH going to be expensive ... wait, $3.99? Nice."

I had the same reaction. I think the last time I purchased a card in the store it was about $4 before postage. So not only is this cheaper than the way I used to do it, it looks better (better envelope) and is more convenient.

Now if the had an Android version I would be happy. :)

Could you please elaborate on what technologies you've used to create the app?

Very nice movie! Is this professionally made or just home made?

wow, beautiful app! i had a similar idea with a different slant as a side project, centered around the idea of writing a letter to your future self. am currently testing whether or not people would pay to get letters printed and mailed to them.

take a look here: http://www.tymdrop.com

$9 seems quite excessive to mail a sheet of paper. I'm not sure whether or not people will be able to justify the inordinate price, and I'm of the opinion that it's simply too hight to be tenable.

As an aside, the site crashed upon closing the "learn more" dialog.

> $9 seems quite excessive to mail a sheet of paper.

$9.83 is a Starbucks grande latte in Oslo...

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/02/the-starbucks-g...

ah yes i agree $9 is not low, but i think we need to communicate more of what you'll receive in by mail.

we won't send just a sheet of paper, but rather a neatly printed letter on high quality paper (diploma quality stock) with maybe letter pressed adornments.

all in all, this a lean startup test of the idea. i'm not married to the price point, and thanks for the feedback!

The smoothing and variable stroke width look pretty good there, a lot like Paper. Care to share what you're doing?

Great idea. Hope everyone uses FELT. Much much better than a non-personal email but almost as easy.

Great idea, but I think you should get a different domain name... "Felt a pp".

I didn't see that until you pointed it out. Now it's all I'll be able to see!

Y'know, I disagree that it's an issue, and I'm usually one of the more immature people around!

Feltapp.com works IMO.

Nice! Would also be cool to connect with Facebook for birthdays etc.

Looks really cool and well developed. I'd use it but then I noticed I don't know home addresses of most people as an immigrant here. Most people I know are either my friends or colleagues whom I don't have home addresses of and thus I cannot use this.

Neat! I would use this if:

1. I didn't need an iPad.

2. you would mail them internationally.

3. you would seal them with a custom wax seal. (This would, of course, be a premium feature.)

Wax seal won't survive the mail system.

I loved everything about this app.

Does it work internationally?

Not yet, but definitely something we're planning on.

Great idea and execution!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com