The use of the name ‘online scratch cards’ is merely a commercial expedient, and blatantly so, when we stop to consider how very different are the original scratch cards (sold at newsstands) from the virtual graphics of the online version that goes dubiously by the same name. What are these differences in phenomenological or experiential terms? and how do they match the basic underlying concept of an instant lottery game? Initially, we are assuming that changing the timing of actually ‘scratching’ these scratch cards is a significant alteration, however, this may not be the case.
Our attraction to these cards’ instant gratification combined with a tantalizing dose of risk is clear enough: scratch cards are the fastest growing form of gambling [1]. The question here is rather about the noted differences, mainly in terms of temporality, between experiencing the cardboard-paper versus the pixel versions of this lottery game.
Both the online and the offline forms of scratch cards descend from a time-bound lottery, the concept of which has been widely used by municipalities all over the world. When the waiting and attention required by playing a weekly or monthly lottery becomes compacted into one moment ¾ an ‘instant’, with instant gratification, instantaneous release from suspense ¾ then there can be little doubt that the temporal suspense element of traditional lotteries apparently had to evolve into a new breed of light gambling to keep pace with modern attention-deficit culture.
There is a whole set of social scenes and acts that reinforce the excitement over an upcoming raffle or lottery selection ceremony, especially if the jackpot is increasing and generating conversation ¾ these chats are easier to visualize in a cosy neighbourhood amongst people who still take time to socialize, perhaps talk over slow coffees, than in the fast lane lives of jet-setters.
But this entire sequence of suspense-building experiences concerning a fixed denouement on a specific date is liquidated by the scratch card. This trade-off is essentially a barter on behalf of busier players with Time itself. The yield of the trade-off is that the scratch card gives a fast thrill that can be fit into almost any private or semi-private moment of the day. Still, the player commits to some time taken to buy the scratch cards, play them and then redeem them (usually at the same transaction as buying a new batch to play) ¾ these moments can be easily woven into the tight fabric of one’s day because retail points for the cards are located at gas stations, grocery stores, and so on.
We might be able to conclude that the offline or original scratch card, the actual paper cardstock, was more private than a website version equipped with a chat window because playing these cards would normally occur on one’s own time, somewhat randomly yet still beholden to one’s private schedule ¾ the personal schedule within one’s public schedule, we might say. (The practice of rubbing off scratchies for sustained periods of time in a group setting is presumably less than normal.) Although the online version is likely to be consumed in the same way at the daily level, this virtual (immaterial) scratch card offers a chat portal built right into the card. Can you imagine a paper scratch card sublimated by an electronic communication screen? This potentially changes its mood from private to sociable (if the player wishes ¾ because here, as in most everything of an online nature, the end user has options).
If the original concept of scratch cards was to eliminate the wait time associated with traditional lotteries and raffles, then the ‘online scratch card’, despite its somewhat interesting internal oxymoron, actually achieves something much purer than the paper technology (which involved sometimes elaborately printed cardstock and latex coatings covering the play surfaces, a technology that was developed in America in the mid-seventies) [2]. Since there is virtually no physical transaction or interaction necessary (to buy or to play) aside from using one’s computer or smart phone, an online scratch card is the ultimate time-saver. Maybe ‘time-eliminator’ is more precise; the player does not even have a tab of paper in one’s grip that has to be thrown away or stowed to redeem if it won something. When you win online, you win immediately. That also means that in order to receive such absolutely instantaneous credit, you must be a registered member of a particular gaming website.
Importantly, the anonymity of paper scratchies seems to have complemented their primarily solitary nature. The paper itself, like a note of currency, along with the proof of how one’s game went, is its own source of value, even if lost retaining its redeem-ability. This preserves some mystique of the object itself, its tangibility, a kind of romance surrounding taking good care not to lose this valuable thing. The paper scratch card is thoroughly rooted in the physical world. The online scratch card does not produce rubbish, true, yet it belongs to an other-worldly realm of pure psychical pleasure, the Internet. The virtual cards one buys and plays are absolutely linked to one’s identity registered with the gaming company. Although playing these Web-based lottery games is safe (with solid SSL encryption), they have lost the incognito atmosphere inherent in purchasing scratch cards at odd times (usually private) and playing them at one’s leisure for hard cash money (anonymous).
Within the species of scratch cards, whether online or offline, there are many subspecies comprised of themes designed to appeal to the widest range of folks. This variety can be much better accomplished by online cards since any amount of games can be offered and monitored automatically by software (managing the stocks of paper scratch cards is like managing inventories of perishable foods). The act of scratching a game can be as simple or as mentally taxing as one wants it to be. Some games require haphazardly choosing for a chance at winning, while others offer a puzzle or trivia game for which precision is required whilst removing particular portions of the playable spaces. The card providers pick various embellishments that are hobby-based (like sports) and even pop culture derived (like TV shows) to tickle players’ momentary fancies.
After considering some of these differences that distinguish the online scratch card, it seems fair enough to regard it, as said before, as significantly purer in form to the driving concept of ‘instant gratification’. The old paper scratchies may eventually go the way of vinyl records, sinking into cult or retro culture. It is not inconceivable that any of the advantages of the paper technology could be better simulated by the online scratch cards as soon as the players appeared to notice and miss them (anonymity and transferability, for instance). Eliminating another form of entertainment reliant upon tree-destruction, after all, may carry a much greater imperative as we venture further into the electronic age.
References
[1]
http://lotteryscratchcardswin.com
[2]
