Fifteen years later, the Apple Cards origin story
A retrospective look at Apple's 2011 'Cards' app reveals it was a project driven by Steve Jobs that suffered from significant management and production issues. The app, which allowed users to send physical letterpress cards, was eventually discontinued.
Why it matters
The story provides insight into Apple's internal culture and the challenges of scaling niche hardware-integrated software projects.
In 2011, Apple released the Cards app . The app — which required iOS 5 — let you design custom letterpress cards, with your messages and photos printed upon them — which Apple would ship to your recipient on your behalf.
I recently learned the origin story of Cards, and that it was specifically a Steve Jobs product. It also wasn’t smooth sailing. But first, some backstory, and inserting myself into the narrative, because it’s my site and I can do what I want here.
I wrote about the app several times for Macworld. Apple complained first to me, and later to my editors, that I didn’t go deep on the fact that the cards Apple was offering were printed on 100 percent cotton paper. Apple thought my article should be updated to mention this. My editors and I disagreed.
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