ELECTRONIC TRADING CARD

A system for the application of a trading card metaphor to a disassociated computer program and the unique design of several hardware and software systems supports and enhances collecting, trading, game playing, and creating of digital electronic trading cards by taking the traditional trading card metaphor and uniquely updating and enhancing it for application in consumer digital media. An electronic hardware and software architecture for electronic trading cards (ETCs) has a number of components that function together as a system that support making electronic trading cards, trading electronic trading cards, activities (such as game playing) with electronic trading cards, and collecting electronic trading cards. The ETC format is embodied in the components of the electronic trading card system, which are designed to generate and accept a common proprietary electronic trading card format, so that, for example, a card created in a card-making application can be recognized by an electronic trading card album. The card format supports both scarcity and authenticity, which are essential to card collecting and trading, within a disassociated computer code segment.