The rise and rise of SMS

[jones]

The rise and rise of SMS

January 26, 2007 Mobile communications means many things to different people, though when the first commercial SMS message was sent on December 3, 1992, its future was not seen as significant in comparison to the potential for voice and multimedia communications – simple text messaging looked like a budget-priced stopgap until mobile bandwidth grew and dropped in price. How wrong we were ! In the late nineties, the technology achieved mainstream status among younger audiences as a medium for audience voting for that other modern day phenomenon, reality television, but its convenient asynchronous nature has seen its star continue to rise and it is now among the most widely used communication mediums of all. Since the turn of the century, text messaging has been experiencing phenomenal growth and figures released this week showing that the number of SMS sent globally for the traditional peak period of New Year increased to a remarkable 33 billion messages on New Year’s Day – that’s 30 percent up on last year

http://www.gizmag.com/go/6768/

[Kalimotxo]

i vividly remember my first text message... it was back in 2002 and i thought it was the stupidest concept on the earth. here i am, five years later, and I send over 1,000 a month. we've come a long way over five years.

also, i recall that we could only text message in a certain part of town because only one of the three towers in our county supported it.... so if we weren't bouncing off that tower we couldn't text. Oh US Cellular, you cards...

[AshRae84]

Personally, I love texting. I love Instant Messaging, and Email. It might make me impersonal... ok, I KNOW it does, but I'd LOVE it if we eventually got to the point where we never had to talk... just text, and email. :-P I HATE talking on the phone... Quite strange this being a 'cell' forum, eh? :-P

~*Ash*~

[Shizam76]

Personally, I love texting. I love Instant Messaging, and Email. It might make me impersonal... ok, I KNOW it does, but I'd LOVE it if we eventually got to the point where we never had to talk... just text, and email. :-P I HATE talking on the phone... Quite strange this being a 'cell' forum, eh? :-P

~*Ash*~

I'm with you Ash.....I love email and chatting via text.....I don't like talking on the phone...I procrastinate calling people back all the time, its horrible! I guess I like texting and email and IM'ing better is because you text me....and I don't have to look right at you and immediately answer....I can wait a minute or two or five and text back. Same with IM....if I am doing something else, or watching TV...I don't have to immediately answer right away like you do when you are talking to someone and looking right at them. Plus, this way, they don't hear the preocupation in your voice as your mind is on the TV.....or another website, etc etc.

[RJB]

I hear that I also hate talking on the phone.

[AshRae84]

I'm with you Ash.....I love email and chatting via text.....I don't like talking on the phone...I procrastinate calling people back all the time, its horrible! I guess I like texting and email and IM'ing better is because you text me....and I don't have to look right at you and immediately answer....I can wait a minute or two or five and text back. Same with IM....if I am doing something else, or watching TV...I don't have to immediately answer right away like you do when you are talking to someone and looking right at them. Plus, this way, they don't hear the preocupation in your voice as your mind is on the TV.....or another website, etc etc.

Exactly, multi-tasking is so much easier when you're texting. I can watch a movie, read a book, clean house, do whatever I need to do, and still talk to you.

I just feel like when I'm actually talking on the phone I have to halt everything, and focus on just talking.

The only time I ever really spend a long time on the phone is when I'm in the car on a long drive...

The crazy thing, I talk 90 to nothing when I'm in a group of people, or hanging out with people... but I absolutely hate talking on the phone... go figure.

~*Ash*~

[AnthroMatt]

i vividly remember my first text message... it was back in 2002 and i thought it was the stupidest concept on the earth. here i am, five years later, and I send over 1,000 a month. we've come a long way over five years.

also, i recall that we could only text message in a certain part of town because only one of the three towers in our county supported it.... so if we weren't bouncing off that tower we couldn't text. Oh US Cellular, you cards...

Funny...my first text was with US Cellular too. They charged per character back then, probably back in 2000 or so.

Personally, I love texting. I love Instant Messaging, and Email. It might make me impersonal... ok, I KNOW it does, but I'd LOVE it if we eventually got to the point where we never had to talk... just text, and email. :-P I HATE talking on the phone... Quite strange this being a 'cell' forum, eh? :-P

~*Ash*~

I couldn't have said it better. I hated talking on the phone even back in the days when I had no cell phone.

[Ironwalt]

I'm with you Ash.....I love email and chatting via text.....I don't like talking on the phone...I procrastinate calling people back all the time, its horrible! I guess I like texting and email and IM'ing better is because you text me....and I don't have to look right at you and immediately answer....I can wait a minute or two or five and text back. Same with IM....if I am doing something else, or watching TV...I don't have to immediately answer right away like you do when you are talking to someone and looking right at them. Plus, this way, they don't hear the preocupation in your voice as your mind is on the TV.....or another website, etc etc.

Your so right.

[hme83]

I've hated talking on the phone my whole entire life. Makes my ear hurt.

[AshRae84]

I'm really quite amazed at how many of us hate talking on the phone when we dedicate so much time to our phones. :-P

~*Ash*~

[AnthroMatt]

Maybe that's why we like all the other features so much...we hate the phone paert of our phone too much!

[budney]

I am not much of a talker, and have a pretty plain life. So I don't like to talk on the phone much, and procrastinate like Shizam. The problem is most of my family are old school phone people, so I don't text much. But I am starting to like it as my oldest sister has a call tone or whatever they are called. It confuses me every time, so texting her is much better.

[AshRae84]

I am not much of a talker, and have a pretty plain life. So I don't like to talk on the phone much, and procrastinate like Shizam. The problem is most of my family are old school phone people, so I don't text much. But I am starting to like it as my oldest sister has a call tone or whatever they are called. It confuses me every time, so texting her is much better.

You mean an Answer Tone? Like the song that plays when you call someone instead of the old school ring?

~*Ash*~

[Ironwalt]

Wirelessly posted (Ironwalt's v3c: MOT-GATW_/00.62 UP.Browser/6.2.3.4.c.1.112 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

The only to talk to my boss is by email or text. I've been with him when he gets a call and he will just look at the caller id on his bb. But email him and his fingers dance on the keypad. I am the same way. If i get a call. I let vm get it and than check it to see what they want. Text me and you will get one back faster than a call back. The only thing i hate is when your texting more than one person at a time and get lost.

[budney]

You mean an Answer Tone? Like the song that plays when you call someone instead of the old school ring?

~*Ash*~

Yep, that it.

[AnthroMatt]

I am not much of a talker, and have a pretty plain life. So I don't like to talk on the phone much, and procrastinate like Shizam. The problem is most of my family are old school phone people, so I don't text much. But I am starting to like it as my oldest sister has a call tone or whatever they are called. It confuses me every time, so texting her is much better.

I hate when I call people and hear a song instead of a ring.

[AshRae84]

I hate when I call people and hear a song instead of a ring.

Might be a generational thing, but I like them.

~*Ash*~

[AnthroMatt]

Might be a generational thing, but I like them.

~*Ash*~

I'm only 29!

[AshRae84]

I'm only 29!

My bad, didn't mean to offend. But we're still different generations. You're what? Gen X? and I'm Gen Y.

~*Ash*~

[budney]

Well at least I have a good excuse, I'm 30. And from what I was told on my B-Day I am older the dirt now.

[AshRae84]

Well at least I have a good excuse, I'm 30. And from what I was told on my B-Day I am older the dirt now.

I'd love to hear someone give me credit for my maturity. At 22, I'm constantly told I'm "just a baby." It's highly frustrating for me. Especially when I'm more mature, and have had more life experience than most telling me that.

~*Ash*~

[Ironwalt]

Wirelessly posted (Ironwalt's v3c: MOT-GATW_/00.62 UP.Browser/6.2.3.4.c.1.112 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Well at least I have a good excuse, I'm 30. And from what I was told on my B-Day I am older the dirt now.

Yeah i remember when they came up with the dirt thing. Man what a day that was. by the way im 34

[Fire14]

Wow a bunch of young people . I prefer to talk on the phone, but do like using SMS and it depends on what I am doing on which is better to use.