Gangster Octopus has made a good point - the pricing in the UK encourages texting. I get 500 free a month as part of the line rental charge - I’ve never managed to use that up within the 30 days. So I guess I feel that it’s someting I’ve never paid for 
…and the phone companies love it too, because it costs them an infintessimal amount to deal with a text message. So even a one-penny charge is almost pure profit for them.
My students find it very useful for cheating. Someone who has the test early in the day will text-message the questions to friends in later classes. Or TM the questions for someone to look up the answers and reply.
Gosh, it’s fun to catch them and take their little cell phones away.
I never saw the point of it before, but one of my friends uses it constantly, and he’s gotten me hooked on it. It’s nice because it’s even more immediate and casual than e-mail, but not as immediate or intrusive as a phone call. I can say whatever I want and send it out as soon as it pops into my head, without dealing with the “I want to interrupt whatever it is you’re doing right now and spend time talking to me exclusively.” Kind of the real-life equivalent of MPSIMS.
And I use full sentences with capitalization, punctuation, etc. but that may be because I’ve got one of the Treo 600 phones mentioned earlier, with a full keyboard. My friend uses a regular 9-button phone with predictive text, and it just seems like that would drive me nuts. But somehow he always seems to send out little novellas.
ANother one here who likes text messaging but hardly EVER uses the mobile phoens for voice calls, as it is teribly expensivie in my case - worthwhile if very important, but otherwise not good for penniless Celyns.
I think all my reasons have been convered by others, although I am not sure if anyone included my own cynical one - namely, that it lets me send a quick message without getting into a tedious 20 minute chat about it. Cheaper and less hassle. TImes when an interactive onversation is need, fine , that is what I do.
Sadly, I cannot deal with my parents that way, 'cos they have not really worked out how to do it. 
It lets me notify someone of a change in plan - “running 10 mins late” etc.
It lets me send a quick message to my brother or whoever - someone who might be in a car, and therefore absolutely not able to take a call, but quite able to think “Oh a text from Celyn - OK, I’ll get that in a minute when I can park”. (IT is now illlegal in the U.K. to use a cellphone while the car engine is running - one must have the vehicle stopped and engine switched off.)
In terms of getting a short message across, it is cheaper, and as others say, less intrusive, than making a call. I would hate to be the “I’m on the train” talking-out-loud person, but I have sometimes been terribly pleased that I can simply send “sorry - busses all to hell - train instead. ETA xxxx” .MInimal disruption for me, for other passengers, contact maintained with the poor fool who is expecting me by bus.
I don’t, however, use it for any of the supposedly useful servies - weather, sports results and so on.
It is, though, tiresome to type n a tiny little alphabetical “keyboard” - but mostly worth it.
But “predictive” text is the work of the Evil One, and shall be ignored! And I avoid any shorthand, except when needs must.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet: automated applications using text messaging can be very useful. For example, I have configured my personal e-mail account to notify me by text message when I get mail from certain (to me) important people; I also get a text message when my web site is down.
Another thing that I use from time to time: when I call directory enquiries from my mobile phone I chose to have the name/phone number sent to me by SMS rather than read to me. That way I don’t need another hand to make notes; when the SMS arrives I put the cursor on the number contained and press dial, and I have got the SMS in memory for later reference.
I’ve had classmates do that, and I found it incredibly rude and distracting. For this reason and Fisher Queen’s, some professors at my uni no longer allow cell phones in class at all, for any reason.
I use it for quick messages back and forth. It’s cheaper than making a phone call, since I get charged in full-minute increments. If I just have a quick question, it makes more sense to TM than to make a call.
Robin
If your phone is set to vibrate there’s no reason for anyone to be bothered in a lecture hall. That’s why they’re so useful!
I had someone show me how to use predictive text, and once I got used to it it’s easy to send little novellas. It just takes a little practice.
Exactly. Though as I said, at 2 cents per it’s unlikely to bankrupt anyone, and if I were using it any more than I do I could add a huge bucket – far, far more than I’d ever use – of messages monthly to my cell plan for $10 or so. But some people, like my wife, just hate the notion of being charged every time they do something, no matter how small the charge is, so they resist using SMS.
I despise texting.
In NZ, one common pricing plan included unlimited texts for $10 per month. As a consequence now upwards of 80% of secondary school students have cellphones. Several new social phenomena have occurred.
Some students don’t socialise in what used to be a normal way. It is not unusual to see a small gaggle of students sitting on the same bench texting one another. And not necessarily using their own phones either.
Spelling has deteriorated significantly. It is not unusual to see “b4”, “w8”, etc in essays.
Text bombing. The synchronous sending of 100 or more text messages to the same person.
Text bullying. Made even more insidious when the bully is using someone else’s phone.
Sending and receiving of message during class time. Yes, I confiscate the little devices when possible, but it is not always possible to spot or prove if the texting it taking place under a desk or in a pocket. And it can be a serious distraction or disruption. One phone I confiscated received 47 messages in one hour in my desk during class time.
A general lack of precision in communication. It is easy to be unintentionally ambiguous in such a condensed form of communication. Thus little social matters escalate into major crises for teenagers who are, well, teenagers. There is also the expectation that text messages should take priority over everything else.
Recently the phone companies changed their pricing structure to prevent the text bombing. Now one can get 500 texts per month for $10 and there is a charge per message over and above that. Much to the annoyance of those who were sending 3500 or more per month. To solve the problem, there are a lot of students who have more than one phone. (Which doesn’t mean that they can afford correct books or uniform oddly enough). The phone companies are laughing all the way to the bank.
Text messaging may have its uses, but something has seriously gone awry from my vantage point.
I’m 22, and I don’t know anyone who uses it. And we all have cell phones, too… For me the decision is simple: $5 a month more for something that I can’t see needing.
In Ireland, anyway, you don’t pay extra just to get the ability to text. Everybody can text and what it costs you depends on what type of plan you have (ie some people have to pay a certain amount, roughly 12c, for every texts; some plans give you x number of free texts per month). Since I can text for free on the web I spend almost nothing on texting to “national” numbers; it’s only my texts abroad (or texts that I make when I’m abroad) that cost me anything, and what they cost me is significantly less than what it would cost me to phone in those cases.
But predictive text can be so much fun! For example, when you start entering “karaoke” (don’t ask) the word turns to “Japan” which makes a lot of sense IMHO
Then again, if I try “lasagna” my mobile returns “karchne”. Why??? Why??? In what language is “karchne” a word?
Anyway, with regards to the OP, I’d say another advantage to texting (we call it SMSing by the way, too, gouda) is the fact that you can keep the SMS on your mobile. So people like me who tend to forget meeting points and such can always check the information again.
Disadvantage: “No, I didn’t get your SMS.” Like “the check’s in the mail”… unverifiable but you know it’s probably a lie.
It’s not the ringtone or vibration that’s so annoying. It’s the little clicking noise from the keys and the anxious “oh” that the recipient/sender gives when the message is received. Once, the prof had the lights turned down to show a video, and the bored student had a rather nauseatingly colored screen.
AFAIC, there is no reason to have a cell turned on in class.
Robin
I’ll admit that it’s annoying to have at least one cell phone go off per lecture, but I’ve never heard key clicking over the lecturer before – I have heard laptop keys and electonic translator dictionary thingies though.
I just find it very convenient to be able to ask my girlfriend to pick me up after the lecture without having to leave the hall.
I SMS my husband messages like “Please pick up milk on your way home”. That way I’m not interrupting him if he’s busy or in a meeting or something. He can read my message at his leisure.
I encourage friends to text me their new address or phone number. That way I can look it up and write it down at my convenience rather than do the “Where’s a working pen” dance while they’re sitting on the phone waiting. The other way, I can give out instructions on how to find my house or my new email address or something and I don’t have to worry about what the person on the other end is doing because they’ll just note it down when they’re able to.
Sometimes I send a “Where are you?” message to friends. If they reply “At home”, I call them there. If they’re out, I ask them to ring me when they get home.
Sometimes I text message people who I can’t be bothered talking to, but feel like I need to catch up with.
Some friends are incapable of having a five minute phone conversation, so text messaging saves being stuck on the phone for hours, especially when you just need a short answer to a short question.
Sometimes we exchange short messages that are suppose to provoke a smile from the recipient: for instance, my friend will send me a message that says “Mmmm… potato and leek soup” and I grin because it brings back happy memories, and I know she’s sent it to me because she’s eating soup and thinking of me.
The single most useful implementation of SMS for me (so far) has been the automated messages from directory enquiries (or their numerous independent progeny now) - you call to find a number; the machine reads it out and offers you the chance of being connected with a single keypress (albeit connecting at a higher than normal billing rate), but after you hang up, a text message comes through with the directory information in it (most phones can pick out and store the number from a text message quite easily).
BT are now making texting available on home landlines: http://www.bt.com/bttext/
Amen to that. I find flight alerts most useful on connecting flights. The plane lands, and everyone turns on their phones. If my connection’s been delayed or cancelled, I know about it long before we reach the gate, much less get off the plane. If it’s been cancelled, I can call the airline, and in most cases, rebook my flight before all the people in front of me have collected their luggage and children from the overhead bins. I don’t have to wait in line at the counter to rebook, and if there is limited availability on an alternate flight, I have a better chance of getting on that flight by rebooking immediately, rather than waiting 20 minutes until I’m at the front of the line at the counter.
I used to use it to silently visit with a friend, while I was standing in a t.v. studio during live shows. Can’t use a cel phone, but can use Text Messaging since I silenced the incoming alert. Kind of miss that…
Cartooniverse