Emotional Design IV: Life Tokens

I don’t know if you had a chance to read my lengthy post back in January: From Civil War Letters to Email. If not, I was lamenting the loss of our emotional connection to the artifacts of traditional letter writing. People no longer save cherished love letters in a shoe box. Many have lost that emotional connection associated with the art and care of traditional letter writing.

Well...someone is trying to fill that void...Let’s say you wanted to give your child kudos for the great report card they just handed you. All A’s! But...you don’t feel like taking the time to buy a greeting card. Plus, mom and dad, that’s not hip anyway....Now comes Lifetokens...

Apparently, you can anonymously mail discs reminiscent of poker chips called “life tokens.” While I am not sure about the execution, I believe they are trying to fill that emotional void in our digital communications while keeping the advantages of instant messaging. Instant at least for the sender; it still has to go through the US Postal Service.

It seems kind of cool.

I think is is a start...Maybe I’ll give it a try sometime and let you know how it goes...