You've got mail

Damian Koh | Jan 17, 2006

Educational institutes stifle creativity cells for some, but it certainly did not for Stuart Calvey, a 22-year-old industrial design student at the University of NSW. Still in its conceptual stage, the Snap+Send digital postcard looks set to kick the butts of its ancestors, if the idea ever takes off in spite of its sticker price.

Combining a 2-megapixel lens and a 10cm screen onto a postcard-sized cardboard shell, the Snap+Send digital postcard is small enough to be sent like what you'd usually do for your snail mail. The whole package is expected to cost US$25, though we're not sure how many pictures you can take on its internal memory and how long the camera-cum-postcard will last on its battery.

The inventor positions his concept as an alternative to mobile phone cameras and targets primarily tourists and backpackers. End receivers need only complete a three-step ritual to enjoy a slideshow of pictures: Tearing open the perforations; folding a little kick stand on the reverse; and pressing a button to playback images.

Oh, stamps sold separately.

Don't throw away your postcards yet.