Turn Business Cards into iPhone Contacts

In this job, by the end of the week, I collect a ton of business cards.

In fact, it's not unheard of for me to put on jackets I haven't worn in awhile to find business cards in the breast pocket and do one of those Homer Simpson forehead slaps—doh!

When I first started this column, the folks at SHAPE Services suggested I try their app: Business Card Reader ($4.99), which will take a photo of said card and convert it to the fields in your iPhone address book.

Perfect! I thought.

Well, near perfect.

I've been using this app for a few weeks now, trying to convert business cards to contact files. Mostly, it's been a success.

Previously:

I recently met Kathryn Auerbach at an event for Hacks/Hackers—a group for journalists and tech folks—so it's appropriate that I used her card as the electronic guinea pig. (Kathryn is the director of development for the Metro Chicago Information Center, which is involved in all sorts of open source data projects).

The app read her name just fine, but it had a little trouble deciphering her email address—even though it was in the same color, but a smaller font. I was impressed that it put the address in the correct spot, even though it was in a light gray ink. Predictably, some of the address was garbled, but a few clicks righted things.

Business Card Reader (which shows up as "BC Reader" in your iPhone screen) also allows you to keep your card photos all in one place, so you don't have to hunt through you electronic contacts for someone you just met, but can't quite remember. There's even a feature that allows you to connect their card with their LinkedIn account, which can be handy.

And I still prefer business cards. I like the shape and feel and ritual of exchanging them.

So, until everyone uses Bump to exchange contact information or we're all hooked up to some telepathic microchip device (coming soon from Google, I suspect) — Business Card Reader is a good, though not infallible solution for people who love the business card ritual and the ease of electronic contacts.

Patch also has its own iPhone app, which will connect you to local news, weather, events and business listings in your town.