E-card
An E-card is a postcard, sent by means of the Internet, usually through email. A user sending an e-card to a person would select a pre-written card style with image and message, and would add their own personal message, and specify the recipient's email address. On sending the card, the recipient would receive an email with a link to the e-card provider's webpage, and this link would go to the e-card as a webpage, with the sender's personal message and card. Note that the actual card is not usually sent through the email, but only a link to the card hosted as a website. There are five common types of visual E-Cards. "Flash Animated" which use Macromedia's "Flash" software, "Postcards" which use static (non-moving) images, "Animated" cards which are similar to Postcards yet may have some minor repetative movement, Java cards which typically combine Postcard images with some kind of Java based animation, and most recently Talking greeting cards. Flash Animated cards are typically the most advanced and popular cards. Flash Animated cards are typically used to create a full animated effect, similar to an animated cartoon. They can also be interactive, asking the viewer to perform an action or press a button. Postcards are the oldest form of E-Cards and are still popular. They typically show more artistic or nature images such as animals, mountains, sunsets, people, or other scenic scenes. One of the most well known sites is Blue Mountain Greetings. Blue Mountain was one of the original greeting card sites and grew to become one of the largest on the web. In 2002 it was purchased by American Greetings. Soon after, American Greetings changed Blue Mountain from an advertising based "free" e-card site into a membership based "pay" service. While free greeting card sites are still the most prevalent and popular, most of the largest e-card sites on the web have begun charging for premium services and has slowly become a more accepted practice.
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