When Christmas card lists become shorter

I've just discovered that a relative by marriage died earlier this year. We hadn't seen each other for years and he never mastered email, although we did exchange Christmas cards. It's that time of life I suppose, where the Christmas card list seems to become a little shorter each year.

I've always assumed that the tradition of sending cards would go out of fashion, but card shops still seem to flourish and supermarkets still stock them.

My father had a simple approach after Mum died - he didn't bother with cards at all.