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Poken: It’s Silly, And It’s Meant to Replace Your Business Card

August 4, 2009
Filed Under: in Bleeding Edge, Interviews, Social Media, Startups, Video
Author: Robert Scoble

Welcome back.

image What's hot in Japan and is a new way to trade digital ID's with people? Poken. Yes, it's a funny name and a funny concept, but here Stephan Doutriaux, founder, shows off Poken and explains how they could be used in business or at events.

[Robert Scoble is the founder of Building 43 and makes his bones as an emerging technology fanatic and interviewer of movers and shakers in tech and social media.]

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14 responses to “Poken: It’s Silly, And It’s Meant to Replace Your Business Card”

  1. Ion says:

    Robert, this could be the dumbest piece of kit I've ever seen! WTF?

  2. It seems silly, yes, but also a little cool.

    I suppose it all depends on the pricepoint. I couldn't see myself paying for a 12pack, but $15 isn't an outrageous price for one.

    Again, though, I am reminded of shades of the CueCat here.

  3. It seems silly, yes, but also a little cool.

    I suppose it all depends on the pricepoint. I couldn't see myself paying for a 12pack, but $15 isn't an outrageous price for one.

    Again, though, I am reminded of shades of the CueCat here.

  4. TheROG says:

    why so hostile?

  5. ian morton says:

    Poken eh! $20 for an RF USB stick. I'm sure we'll lose a few of those, or maybe just the end cap....not keen at that price.

  6. It is a cool idea. Two things Poken has to fix:
    1. The childish look (I couldn't get it introduced because of this);
    2. The ease of use of the website (in my tests you had to create an online ID *before* using the Poken or you'd find yourself with a lot of unintentionally ghosted exchanges).

    Review (Dutch but Google Translate is in the bottom left corner):
    http://www.eenmanierom.nl/snel-contactinformati...

  7. I think we still will use regular business card in the future, but I think it is a neat gadget and business idea. I want to get a Poken cat figure!

  8. Zoli Erdos says:

    First 10 seconds confirm the silly part - who has time to watch it all the way?

  9. CYNCZ says:

    Poken is a great service. CYNCZ provides complementary service to this service so once you use poken, then you can synhronize your newly created contacts with all other address books. such as email clients, phones, social networks and even CRM systems.

  10. Hoof says:

    I think most people in business situation prefer a. a classy connector or b. their mobile phone (iPhone, more following). I think the smarter concept is http://mynameise.com
    There is also an exciting road map ahead offering a world of opportunities to mix and match virtal worlds, identities and platforms with the real world.

    (I am working with the developers to get the word out, so I am not neutral at all. But a enthousiastic E-vangalist.)

  11. VEEB says:

    The biz card does need to go but this $20 gadget is useless. Why pay for something that few people use? I have waaaaay better things to spend money on ;-)

  12. Distribution of the device is the big problem. Was the same issue with the
    Cuecat. I can't get rid of my biz cards if no one else has one of these.

  13. Hans Frietzer says:

    friend of mine got one of these at conference recently. i tried it and its quite bad experience. design is bad, function is bad. if these were free, could be fun to use once or twice. but charge real $ for it is lame. a waste.

  14. With our company Slumber Parties, we meet lots of distributors in one day. The company wants us to "save" our business cards for our customers. Using this will let us all keep in touch, not loose info, and well, we are all women, it is too darn cute!

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