One of the huge stars of the early Internet was e-cards - static, animated-GIF, or Flash alternatives to a standard ink and paper Hallmark card, not to mention that you could save yourself a couple of bucks and the hassle of going out and buying and mailing a traditional card (the biggest boon to men like myself was that you could quickly send one off on the day in question - no event pre-planning necessary).

One of the biggest successes of the e-card phenomena was Blue Mountain. My first experience with Blue Mountain was actually by mistake - I was looking for some ski conditions, and instead of http://www.bluemountain.ca/ I entered http://www.bluemountain.com. Of course I capitalized on my mistake, immediately sending some goofy e-cards to friends and relatives. Of course many of the recipients started using the service as well. I suspect that the tipping point for that company - the contagious source vector - came when winter rolled around in Ontario and the powder was just right, and lots of misdirected Ontarians figured they might as well use the service since they were there.

During those early days e-cards were sent in bulk. It was good times in the e-card business, and marketing was easy: Every recipient was encouraged to send their own e-cards, so growth was exponential.

Excite @ Home bought Blue Mountain for a blistering $780 million dollars in 1999.

Of course, as with most quick-ascent fads, people started to question e-cards: It the sentiment was so cheap, and required so little personal effort, was it really a substitute for a real card? Was it just a thoughtless form of spam, quickly discarded and ignored? It didn't take long for that sort of feeling to pervade the marketplace.

If this were an episode of Behind the Music, dark and disturbing music would be playing. The Dire Straights of e-cards were upon the industry.

Excite @ Home unloaded Blue Mountain for $35 million in 2001. If the business were individually valuated today, I highly doubt it would come anywhere close to even that number.

This thought came to mind given the almost-absence of e-cards I've seen this holiday season. Perhaps it's just me, and my network of contacts is unique in its reliance upon traditional cards, but it is a remarkable contrast. I did receive one e-card - from a web host - and quite honestly it bordered on a bit offensive getting a holiday greetings card that I know was spun off from a mass mailing script.