Last week I wrote an angry post about people who try to kill the business card. Although I’m friends with a couple of these wannabe killers, I felt I had to defend the ultimate tool for self-expression during first impressions. But now, with pain in my heart, I have to give a couple of these guys a stage. After all, I cannot appear too biased. So here it is, a business cards-killing service which just launched in private beta: Project E.

Next Web Editor David Petherick & Robert Scoble
Next Web Editor David Petherick & Robert Scoble with ‘E’ Prototypes

Three Dutch designers Paul Geurts, Arjen Sondag, and
Renato Valdés Olmos want to get people connected with “a device operated by a single gesture. “Exchanging contact info and social networking info with E takes as long as a formal handshake”, Renato explained when I interviewed him at The Next Web Conference.

Eventually, the three guys want to have specially designed hardware that makes this contact exchange possible. While they’re looking for investors to make this production process possible, they’ve also worked on a service that does the same thing, but with (most) mobile phones. Just a few clicks and you’re connected with your new contact on the services you desire, like LinkedIN.

This social network isn’t actually yet integrated. The beta now works with Twitter, Soocial, and the network of the conference they’re launching at this week, Picnic. Integration with delicious, Netlog, and Last.fm is coming soon.

For now, Renato told me he’s excited to hear your feedback about the UI and the connectivity between different devices. So give it a shot, the first 25 lucky people who leave a comment will receive an invite from me.


Hello, my name is E from Renato Valdés Olmos on Vimeo.