Everyone loves cards, don’t they? They are small, fun, flexible, and versatile. For centuries, people used them for all sorts of purposes: from entertainment (think of Cards Against Humanity!) to mysterious tarot practices.
In the pre-digital era, cards were made of paper only. Often hand-painted and embellished with expensive material, they were associated with the luxurious lifestyle of the upper classes. Yet, it didn’t take them long to go mainstream. And when they did, their popularity spiked worldwide.
Big thinkers such as Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician Carl Linnaeus used cards for research, a.k.a the Zettelkasten method. The German sociologist Niklas Luhmann is, arguably, its most well-known adherent. Considered one of the most prolific writers ever, he used the method to find links between different cards, and the thoughts they contained.
The internet took the concept of cards to a completely new level. They became ubiquitous. Just think of it: Instagram’s basic unit is a card, which comes in the form of a pic. Meanwhile, Facebook’s post box is an expanded card, where you write your thoughts and share them with others.
Classic dating apps like Tinder are also essentially cards that we swipe left and right whimsically (only sometimes with a bit more thought put into the process). xTiles has focused not just on making cards customizable but also on coming up with its own version of “swiping”. Once you start clicking on the screen, sizing and resizing the cards, you will feel the same degree of satisfaction from using the app. Almost evilly satisfying (wooohaha!).
Can you resist?
