I’m not on my cellphone all the time. And when I am, I certainly can’t see the need to send Instant Messages to people, rather than just call them.
What am I missing by not using AOL Instant Messenger on my cell phone? It came included with the phone, and it seems like a lot of people are into it … what’s the deal?
My phone has it too, and I’ve never used it once. My wife uses it on her cell phone to get ahold of me when I’m online at home, and not answering the phone, but I don’t get why she just doesn’t call my cell phone instead.
The whole notion of “texting” on a cell phone rather than verbal communication is perplexing to me. I know that there are a few instances where this would be beneficial-- like movies, libraries, ect. Overall, I think its just sorta gimmicky and wouldn’t bother with it. But then, I’m not one of those hip, alternative youngsters who enjoys the constant use of telecommunications technology set against a backdrop of crazy antics and upbeat popular music like in the commercials.
It’s useful. I once was meeting a friend at his job, but I couldn’t get in past security unless someone came down to get me. I called his cell phone but he didn’t hear it; I didn’t know his number at work. But I did know he keeps AIM on at his computer, so I sent him an IM from my phone, and he was able to let me in.
Other than that, it’s just another nice way to keep in touch with people when you’re bored, can’t be near a computer, and can’t make any noise.
how exactly do you type on a cell phone? Forgive me, but I’ve never done it before.
Zoggie, to spell the word cat, for example, you’d tap the 2 key three times, tap it again once and tap the 8 key once.
To spell the word ouch, you’d tap 6 key three times, the 8 key twice, the 2 key thrice and the 4 key twice.
Or you get a Motorola v.100.
This is huge in Australia. I was really shocked the first time I heard it wasn’t big in the U.S.
We use it pretty much every time we want to send someone a quick message without engaging in a lengthy discussion about it. Going to the movies, and you can’t remember what time the picture starts? SMS (AIM) your mate and ask him.
Of course, our call charges are much higher than yours, and (I think) our SMS charges are a lot lower. We use it a lot, and I couldn’t imagine life without it, but if our call charges ever got as low as what i hear yours are, I guess that we’d use it significantly less.
JuanitaTech describes the typing system accurately, but recent Nokia phones, have an autotupe system, whereby you just press each key once, and the phone will guess what you want to say. So, by typing 5867, the phone will show the word ‘jump’. if i meant ‘lump’, however, i simply press ‘*’ and the phone changes this to ‘lump’ - its second guess. mostly, though, it guesses right the first time, and while confusing at first, this will eventually feel as natural as typing on a computer keyboard.
Oh, wait. You’re talking about phone to computer, not phone to phone. ignore my post.
Most phones come with some inteligent software to predict what you are trying to type. For audiovox it’s called t9 and it’s very useful.
If you wanted to type the word ‘word’ you would type
9673 (which is the touchtone letters for word’
when you type 9 X would show up
when you type 6 Yo would show up
when you type 7 Wor would show up
when you thye 3 Word would show up
Sometimes more then one word will be a choice. ‘Good’ and ‘home’ have the same numbers
4663 and it defaults to good - by pressing 0 you can cycle through the choices.
You can also switch to the method mentioned above by it’s a pain to use (a = 2, b = 22, c=222).
My phone doesn’t do aim but I use it a lot for email which I find very useful. I work in many places where there is no signal and travel from place to place during my job - sometimes by subway which doesn’t get a signal either. By people emailing me instead of leaving a voicemail message I can see how important it is and reply right away if needed. If I get a voice mail I usually wait till I’m at a good place (with free calls) to check messages.
Also when I’m trying to get someone I find it useful to send them an email via cellphone then playing phonetag which I play a lot and am not that good at it. On the train on my way home I usually let my wife know via email what train I’m on.
All said the email function I love but have to admit that im’ing on a phone doesn’t seem as useful. Most people I deal with don’t use aim regularly and it’s more of a right away thing rather then a email in someone’s inbox. I’m sure it’s popular with students esp. during test time though
My new phone has it built in. I logged on the day I got it (gotta play with the toys) but have not used it since then and don’t plan to.
It’s just a royal pain to type messages using only 10 keys. I’ll just call them.
k2dave – I know this is a simple case of YMMV but this is the second phone I have had with the “T9” technology and I can’t stand it. For me, it seems to correctly predict what I want about 20% of the time.