Review: Bump Is No “Bump” in the Road

It’s almost like an age of nostalgia, this idea of passing one of those pristine business cards to a colleague. That one simple act is a true hallmark of networking. The idea of the business card is basically the auto attendant and call center of person-to-person communications. Seriously!

So here’s a pretty cool idea for you. This one will blow your mind. How about we review a phone app — Android or iPhone, it doesn’t matter — that really wasn’t specifically designed for businesses? I know. It’s crazy. Maybe I’ve gone off the deep end.

Or maybe I have not. Maybe I’ve broken new ground with this. Because there is such a social app out there that can be utilized for business purposes related to that of the ever-important and timeless business card.

It’s called “Bump.” That’s it. Just bump.

The Lowdown on Bump

Check this, man. You’ll think me a genius here.

The app aptly titled Bump is basically a phone app allowing a user to simply ‘bump’ a smartphone with another smartphone. Why? To transfer files, of course! Uh-huuuuuuuh. Any kind of file you want, too. It could be a photo, a Microsoft Word document, a video, anything.

And all you need to do is ‘bump’ the edge of your smartphone with another smartphone with the Bump app installed, and you can basically send any file you want directly to that phone as if it were a text or video or photo without even asking for a phone number.

Nifty, isn’t it?

So What’s the Big Deal?

Bear with me. By now, something should be clicking here for you. But just in case it doesn’t, here we go…. Ever heard of a ‘digital’ business card? Oh, yes.

Think about it. It’s the wave of the future. Everything’s going digital. Why not a business card? The great thing about Bump is that it basically allows you, if you so choose, to uphold the great networking institution that is the passing of the business card through digital means. Take a clean snapshot of your business card; and viola, you have a digital business card right on your phone.

And with Bump, you can literally just ‘bump’ that business card right to your colleague or prospective client or whoever.

This saves you money and trees, basically. Bump is free. Taking a picture, for God’s sake, is free. That’s a heck of a lot better than carrying around piles and piles of little paper cards in your pocket (boy, that’s a lot of p’s). Someone wants a business card? Bump ’em. Plain and simple.

There’s Just One Drawback

It’s a big one, sadly. But over time, it can die away like the dinosaurs. With great sorrow, I refer back to the one stipulation of Bump, in that in order for one person to ‘bump’ a file over to another person’s smartphone, that other smartphone must have Bump installed as well.

So what happens when you want to send your business card to another person without the app installed? You’re basically out of luck.

The Horizon Looks Bright With Bump, Though

Consider the way technology advances, though. It’s also important to understand that Bump works as cross-over between different phones and different operating systems. In other words, you can pass a file from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android easily.

Secondly, let’s be honest here: how long will it be before basically anyone with a smartphone has this nifty, popular app installed? I’d say not very long, to be honest. We’re all about convenience. Especially if this gets passed around the moguls and monarchs of the small business and corporation community.

Before we know it, every CEO will have Bump. And every colleague in every industry where networking is an important aspect of business will be bumping. It’s sort of funny, actually…. The phrase ‘business is booming’ might actually turn into ‘business is bumping‘! Such is evolution. We shall only wait and see, my friends.

Related Keywords: business portfolio, presentation, PowerPoint