
Show HN: Felt – Personal, handwritten cards mailed from your iPad - talpert
http://www.feltapp.com
======
ruswick
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.

~~~
8ig8
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?

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

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kmfrk
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.

~~~
darushimo
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.

~~~
jessriedel
> 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.

~~~
statictype
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.

~~~
jessriedel
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.

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gwillen
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.

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quinndupont
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 :[

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

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

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ttruett
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.

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volandovengo
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.

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jamestanderson
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.

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

~~~
talpert
thank you!

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b0z0
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.

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bmeckel
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.)

~~~
Corrado
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.

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taude
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.

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marknutter
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.

~~~
megablast
> There's nothing more irritating....

There are lots of things way more irritating than that.

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

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

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xinsight
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.

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

~~~
talpert
yeah; we're working on it. lol

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

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mnicole
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>

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

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

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

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statictype
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.

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

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

How are you doing the fulfillment of the cards?

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bitops
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.

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

~~~
r00fus
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.

~~~
huntaub
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.

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notJim
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>

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

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

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hrktb
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.

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hashmymustache
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.

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sakai
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!

~~~
sakai
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.

~~~
talpert
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.

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peepoparino
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

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fosap
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?

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

~~~
Corrado
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. :)

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tempi35
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?

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jameshsi
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>

~~~
ruswick
$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.

~~~
jameshsi
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!

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

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

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

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

Feltapp.com works IMO.

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

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alpb
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.

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tricolon
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.)

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huhtenberg
Wax seal won't survive the mail system.

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niico
I loved everything about this app.

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togasystems
Does it work internationally?

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

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jkaunisv1
Great idea and execution!

