
Show HN: Simple Postcard – Send a photo postcard from a text message - jastr
https://thesimplepostcard.com/
======
rm_-rf_slash
I have noticed a mild resurgence in postcards now that we are all officially
sick and tired of text and email, and it's far more personal than asking
someone to look at your Facebook photo album.

 _But..._

Why do we send postcards? Is it for the pretty image? Is it for the message?
Yes, but ultimately it's because you want to share an experience with someone
that matters to you, and you want them to know that you are thinking of them
as more than just a fleeting thought. Otherwise, a text message with an image
or video suffices.

Bottom line: Simple Postcard would be a lot more interesting if we could
physically write in them before they are sent. Just don't take this as a
suggestion to use AI to put pen to paper and mimic our handwriting from
samples, because that's plain creepy.

~~~
hellbanner
Too late: [http://feltapp.com/](http://feltapp.com/) turns your touchscreen
handwriting into movements by a robot with a felt pen.

~~~
rm_-rf_slash
Still, it's not quite the same. I want to press my pen to the paper. I want to
screw up and scratch it out and remind whomever I'm sending my postcard to
that I am a real human being that dares take an extra five minutes out of the
day because I care about them.

But maybe if you're sending the same postcard to a lot of people, I could
understand why this would be useful. Then again, I would probably just buy
multiple postcards and write something different for each person.

~~~
imajes
Totally agree, which is why we're looking to solve this problem a different
way. [http://www.facebook.com/greetpoint](http://www.facebook.com/greetpoint)
\- join our #handwrittenrevolution! :)

~~~
hellbanner
Hi, I clicked your facebook, then your home page, then "learn more" and I
still didn't know what you did! I'm not going to sign up for an email just
from a slogan.. I suggest you explain your product right on your FB & Homepage
so visitors can understand.

------
stevecalifornia
I just came back from a 10 day solo vacation to Europe. Rather than post
updates on Facebook I sent postcards to close friends and family each day. It
was a lot of fun taking time out of every day to go find a few nice postcards
and send a handwritten note. I think the recipients really enjoyed it as well.
I'm surprised postcards are around still-- but maybe they'll make a resurgence
as people seek to rebuild stronger connections than social media facilitates.

~~~
Swizec
I did this on an 8000km roadtrip around Europe. Every couple if days, I sent
out 20 to 30 postcards.

Two years later, I still see them on people's walls.

The instagrams lay forgotten only dredged up by facebooks memory algorithms.
Sometimes. Maybe. Even then only for me.

Postcards >>> social media.

~~~
stevecalifornia
My daughter hung her postcards over her bed. I caught her in the middle of the
night looking at them with a flashlight. ;)

~~~
mxuribe
That is absolutely awesome! I think I might do this same for my daughter (and
wife)!

~~~
solotronics
must. resist. joke opportunity.

------
jkmcf
_Can I send a GIF? We don 't have the technology to print GIFs yet. We have
some interns working on it._

Hilarious!

~~~
DanBC
Except there are a bunch of services that print gifs to lenticular prints for
an animated effect.

Here's one, but there are others: [http://gifpop.io/products/patakk-
six](http://gifpop.io/products/patakk-six)

~~~
mod
Except nothing. Simple-postcard doesn't have the tech, they aren't necessarily
speaking for the state of affairs for the entire world.

Edit: that's pretty sweet tech though

~~~
qopp
They could contract one of those services to print it for them

------
mxuribe
I don't know what it is, but there's something about this that i like. Maybe
its the "do one thing, and do it right" aspect. (Though it remains to be seen
if they do it right.) But I for one wish these guys good luck!

------
chakalakasp
I hope you have some human doing image QC or I envision a long conversation
with Postal Inspectors regarding all the dick pic postcards that you're
sending.

BTW, that said, this reminds me a little bit of rather elegant app developed
by Bill Atikinson, "Photo Card", which aims to convert photos in iOS to
postcards on demand.

~~~
chipperyman573
>Postal Inspectors

Those exist? I thought that nobody (including the government) was supposed to
look at, touch, or investigate mail (except from prisons IIRC)

~~~
tgokh
They're federal agents within the Postal Service.

Legally, you can't mail any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or
vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance"

~~~
chipperyman573
Interesting. How do porn magazines, fleshlights, etc ship?

~~~
dflock
Inside a brown paper package or envelope, unlike a postcard.

~~~
chipperyman573
So the inspectors can only look at the packaging, not touch them?

------
lsb
I really enjoy the US Postal Service's $0.39 stamped postcards. There's a
blank front, which makes it convenient to sketch what I'm seeing when I'm
writing the message. (A few parks, like Yosemite, will frank the stamp from
"Yosemite National Park", which is an even more special treat for the
recipient.)

They are quite a good value for the money if you are ever in the USA and wish
to correspond with friends and are artistic. :)

------
27182818284
There was a similar thing years ago on HN that was like $4 for a postcard with
the image you uploaded. It went defunct, though. I really liked the idea and
did try to use it, but it was already in the process of being shut down by its
creator.

~~~
gricardo99
yep. Maybe this one's a bit more simplified, but various iterations of this
concept over the years (just search any app store for postcard apps):

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8154009](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8154009)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2437819](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2437819)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10726897](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10726897)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9003880](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9003880)

------
nxzero
Always wondered why postal services don't offer something like this for
letters that a sender requires be sent by mail, but giving it to the carrier
digitally is okay.

If it was in major cities, literally be possible to send a letter same day.

~~~
IanCal
Is there anything that falls into this category which couldn't be done with a
fax?

~~~
jacalata
Sending to a regular person that doesn't have a fax machine

~~~
IanCal
Do you regularly need to send someone a _physical_ copy of something you have
digitally?

~~~
jacalata
Mostly to relatives who would prefer to receive mail than email. Otherwise I
recently had to communicate with a health insurance company that didn't accept
anything by email, and said the images of cancelled checks I faxed them were
too blurry to read.

------
markbao
Very fun – I've already sent 5. The cost is very impulse-purchase friendly,
and it's a lot easier than the effort of going to the store to get cards
printed out and putting stamps on and such, though less personal because of
lack of handwriting. Is the current price introductory pricing or do you think
it would be sustainable long-term? Seems low to me for on-demand printing, but
I haven't seen the quality of the cards.

~~~
thesimon
Lob charges $0.70 per card, seems sustainable.

Edit: Stripe charges a hefty 2.8% + 30ct, so 35ct fees for that. 1ct for
Twilio. $1.06 in costs, so a $0.94 margin. Seems ok for a (probably small
maintenance side project)

------
20andup
Wow. I really love this idea. Simple and impactful to the receiver. Really
makes people reminisce the days before technology took over our lives.

------
bryan11
Excellent idea for parents and grandparents that may not be into computers and
the internet. Even for those that are, having a physical photo and note show
up in the mailbox would be a great thing to brighten their day.

~~~
jastr
I've received really nice feedback from mothers and girlfriends!

------
yaiu
There aren't any example shots of the post cards.. How do these things look?
I've stayed away from similar products because they have logos and unwanted
crap on them.

~~~
jastr
Good idea, I'll add some samples in a bit.

There's nothing on them except what you add.

------
kenrick95
OT: Who is Jeff from New York that is being quoted three times in the website?

~~~
bornon5
Given the tone of the site, I assume it's the creator's friend, or maybe the
creator. Personally I think it's a hilarious change from the fake-looking
testimonials you usually see on startup sites.

Edit: yup. :)

------
JustSomeNobody
Neat idea. I wonder if the scaling/cropping algorithm is smart enough to
handle 4:3 images without chopping people's heads.

~~~
jastr
It's pretty basic. We scale and crop the minimum amount to fit the card.

It would be pretty cool to try something more advanced like facial rec or seam
carving [0]!

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugc)

~~~
JustSomeNobody
Is there a preview before paying? (Sorry, if I missed that in the FAQ).

~~~
jastr
No, not at this time, but please let me know if a card doesn't come out to
your liking.

------
m_t
> Only in the US. We'll support international postcards soon.

I can't wait!

------
ndespres
I've been using Postagram
([https://sincerely.com/postagram](https://sincerely.com/postagram)) for a few
years to send a card to my grandmother regularly from my smartphone. The cards
look great, cost $1, and have the image in a perforated square which can be
punched out of the card, with the description on the back. They have a solid
app with tracking and history. Hard to beat that, but maybe the feature that
Simple Postcard has is fitting the image to a 4x6 area (full front of the
card) rather than the smaller square (3x3", I think) on the Postagrams.

------
lmcnish14
I love this idea. My cousin and I have been sending each other postcards
frequently for years. She's always good about sending them often while I'm
only good at purchasing neat postcards with the intent to send them.

------
bdcravens
I assume it's built using Twilio + Lob API?

[https://lob.com/services/postcards/pricing](https://lob.com/services/postcards/pricing)

~~~
jastr
Yes :) and Stripe. All held together by Django.

------
ikawe
I just sent a picture postcard to a friend for $2.

This was a really nice speedy flow.

For some reason I expect the sms interface to be more human and cheeky. I
guess it's the weird AI chat bot trend.

------
ben_pr
What Payment Gateway are you using? If I'm not mistaken this qualifies as a
micro payment (< $5) and the transactions fees can be rather high on a $2
purchase.

~~~
jastr
Stripe

------
elif
It occurred after sending the MMS, that this page could simply be an elaborate
attempt to flood some guy with random pics.

I would recommend buying a 5 digit MMS number, to add some more obvious
legitimacy to the service.

~~~
jastr
I'll look into that! Thanks.

Edit: Short codes cost $500 on Twilio :O

[https://www.twilio.com/help/faq/short-codes/can-i-send-or-
re...](https://www.twilio.com/help/faq/short-codes/can-i-send-or-receive-mms-
with-my-short-code)

------
kittxkat
The swiss post does allow you to send any picture as a postcard, even for
free: [https://postcardcreator.post.ch](https://postcardcreator.post.ch)

------
YeGoblynQueenne
"How do you fit my photo to a 4x6 card?

We use an _algorithm_ to scale and crop your image to fit the card.

Can I send a GIF?

We don't have the technology to print GIFs yet. We have some interns working
on it."

This is a prank, right?

~~~
misframer
I'd probably take it more seriously if they had a terms of service and privacy
policy.

------
tawayhn
I remember seeing something similar being pitched on one of the Shark Tank
episodes, excep t that I think it was a phone app where you had to install it
on your phone

------
speps
Why do you need pay after you sent the text? A lot of TV shows make you pay
for the amount as part of the charge for the text for example.

~~~
nathancahill
TV shows are integrated with carriers.

~~~
penagwin
Well you could use a service to do it I believe. However the service fee would
be large compared to it's price.

~~~
nathancahill
I believe Twilio supports this starting around $1M.

------
rocky1138
For GIF postcards, they should print as lenticular images! The GIF would
actually play as you angle the postcard.

------
vonklaus
What kind of progress are the interns making?

