# Perplexed about text messaging **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099 "2006-01-02T18:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/1 "2006-01-02T18:12:45Z")
In my geezerdom, I fail to understand the popularity of text messaging, so much slower and harder than talking on a phone. Seems to me that if it had come before the voice phone, everybody would be overjoyed and astonished at the new technology that let people actually talk to each other over the phone without all the key punching. Explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Gainey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@Gainey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gainey)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/2 "2006-01-02T18:25:44Z")
For one, its cheaper. Unlimited text messaging for me is 10 dollars a month but that same 10 dollars would only get me a few more minutes with all kinds of restrictions. Text messaging isnt hard once you practice it enough. I am to the point where I dont even have to think while texting anymore than I have to think while typing. Texting is good for simple conversations. I mean how many times have you called someone and asked what they were doing? Once you become comfortable with texting it takes less time to find out what is going on with your friends. Text \> Group list \> New \> Insert pre created message \> Wait for responses You can communicate with 50 people by using 10 buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/3 "2006-01-02T18:28:10Z")
1. It’s free, even when the person you are talking with is on the other side of the planet 2. IMHO, it’s more casual than a phone call. 3. The person in the next cube can’t overhear your conversation ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/4 "2006-01-02T18:30:30Z")
As I explained in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=351886), text messaging serves different purposes than a phone call or email. One you learn how to do it (only took me a few weeks) you can tap one out almost as fast as you can speak. I use full sentences and punctuation in my messages and I still think it is faster than calling in some situations. With auto-word fill-in and stored phrases I can type even long sentances in seconds. It’s much less non-obtrusive than phoning. Let’s say I am out to lunch with a friend and my mom wants me to pick up some milk and bread at the store on my way home. If she calls, then I will not answer because I am with my friend. After meeting with my friend I would have to check my voice mail and if I got any other calls or have other messages in my inbox, that might take a while. If she sends me a text message I can check it in seconds and if I do it right, my friend won’t ever notice me checking the text messages. I think it is less rude to send a text message than to call, say a short phrase and then hang up again. If you are late to meet your friend then (for me anyway) it takes less time to send a quick text message and you can do it while doing other things to get ready. Phone calls take longer and (I think) require more politeness which means more time spent. They are great for situations where you want to send someone a note to let them know that you are thinking of them but don’t have the time for a phone call. On Christmas day as my brother was driving us to my Grandparent’s house, I sent a picture of our Christmas tree along with a text message wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to ~15 people in my phone book. The friends were in a variety of different time zones and it would have been impossible to try and call each of them up to wish them merry Christmas, not to mention it would have been rude of me to do so while in the presence of my siblings. I was able to send several people a Christmas greeting while still conversing with the people I was with in person. What’s more, the people who received the greeting weren’t interrupted from their festivities for more than a few seconds, and that’s if they chose to check the messages then. About half of my friends list had similar ideas. Similarily, I love sending and getting little notes that say things like “Thinking of you” “I hope you have a nice day today.” which can be checked at the recipient’s leisure and don’t have the urgancy of a phone call. Text messages also will go through sometimes when the grid is too busy. When I got lost in San Fran this October I couldn’t call any of my friends but I could text them. I also have friends who send text messages from work. I know some of them aren’t allowed to do it and sneak it in (it’s easier to sneak in a text than a phone call) but others are permitted by their bosses to text, but not phone. Since my friend is at work where he/she can not call but still wants to carry on a conversation, I will text back instead of calling. Text messages also eat up less battery life than calling. When I went to an outdoor music festival for a weekend, almost everyone there text messaged instead of calling because most of them needed their batteries to last them for three days. And finally, as **manx** noted in that thread, for some people it is cheaper to text than call. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/5 "2006-01-02T18:31:13Z")
For simple messages or questions, it’s quicker than making a call. People can reply when it’s convenient for them - when sending a message, you don’t need to worry about whether their phone is turned on or not, or whether they’re able to answer it straight away. It can be done in situations where a phone call is difficult or intrusive - on a bus, in a noisy crowded pub, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/6 "2006-01-02T18:31:33Z")
My girlfriend gets texts from her daughter a lot. Mystifies her, too, because unlike **Gainey** ’s calling plan, it costs more for texting than it does for just plain talking. > [@Gainey](#): > > I am to the point where I dont even have to think while texting… Yes, I’m taking this quote out of context, but from what I’ve seen it’s very applicable to texting as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/7 "2006-01-02T18:40:23Z")
FWIW, I can also send and recieve text messages anywhere I have any signal at all for my cell phone, whereas I need at least three bars to complete a voice call. Also, um, this is kind of asocial of me, I guess, but I don’t like actually talking to people on the phone. I can text someone saying, “Be there in 10 min!” which is preferable to calling them, and going through the whole: Hello . . . Fine, thanks, how are you? . . . Gee . . . Sorry to hear that . . . Uh, well, we just left home and we’ll be there in about 10 minutes . . . Okay, so see you soo— What? . . . Yeah, that sounds great. See you— What?. . . No, I don’t really care where we go for dinner . . . Huh? . . . Okay, I’ll check. Hey, honey, do you care where we go for dinner? . . . No, he doesn’t care either. . . . Okay, so see y— Huh? No, I don’t know if he’ll be there. . . . No, he didn’t call me. Was he supposed to? . . . Weird. Uh, so I’ll see you when we get there—What was that? Um, no, I have to work tomorrow . . . Yeah. . . . No. . . . Sure. . . .Yuh. . . . Okay. . . Yeah. . . . Yeah . . . Um, okay, so that’s us driving up your driveway. I’m going to hang up now. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/8 "2006-01-02T18:52:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, um, this is kind of asocial of me, I guess, but I don’t like actually talking to people on the phone. I can text someone saying, “Be there in 10 min!” which is preferable to calling them, and going through the whole: That makes sense, I’m witchya on that! All the other explanations were very edifying, and thanks for the input. Now I understand. Maybe I’ll join the 21st centruy technology after all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/9 "2006-01-02T21:35:53Z")
From an early article on the history of SMS (“The Joy Of Text”, **The Guardian** , June 2000): > [@](#): > > Nokia’s UK business development manager, Mark Squires, thinks it has got a lot to do with cost (you can send a text message anywhere for a trip-to-a-70s-sweetshop-sized 10p), and with what he calls the “control factor” (as in, you get to read it if, and when, you want). > > Ericsson’s senior product manager, Colin Ellis, agrees. He also points out that they have made mobile communications accessible to the deaf for the first time, and adds that the popularity “is also down to them being so discreet and personal; no one need know when you’re sending or reading a text message, even if you’re in a meeting. And you don’t have to use the manual to learn how to do it. We’ve realised that however good a service is, if people have to read the manual in order to use it, it won’t happen.” > > But there seems to be something more than practicality about the appeal of text messaging […] What explains it is vague, and hard to pin down; part of it must be that they seem sent to solve so many of our modern manners-conundrums. Such as: what to do when you want to ask someone something without getting sucked into the pleasantries-and-gossip-vortex? Or when you’re on the bus and can’t wait, but wish to avoid “I’M ON THE BUS”-syndrome? Or when you wish to ensure that the forgetful friend you’re phoning has the directions to your house written down correctly? There’s also the way they pander to the deep-rooted, but rarely acknowledged, human love of making up stupid languages (“Gr8 2 CU”, etc). And, of course, there’s that “kind of flirty thing”. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/10 "2006-01-02T21:45:10Z")
My daughter and her friends have an unlimited texting option on their plans, but for us, we pay 10 cents for every message sent or received. Needless to say, we rarely, if ever, use it. But she and her friends us it a lot. Whatever works… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/11 "2006-01-02T21:55:47Z")
I’m with the OP. I’ve tried text messaging maybe three times in my life. It took something like 20 minutes to type out “Hi its me.” After reading this thread, maybe I’ll give it another shot someday. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/12 "2006-01-02T22:02:14Z")
I’m with the OP too. I love gadgets but text messaging is just something I can’t see point of commonly using. I could imagine a situation where cell phone service is weak and you are caught in a cave that was slowly closing in around you and you can only save yourself by text messaging. Sure, that would be useful but it mainly seems like those Morse code buttons they used to put on cheap walkie talkies. I never used those either. I would have to struggle really hard to come up with a practical use for any text messaging in my own life. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/13 "2006-01-02T22:03:23Z")
I’ve also heard claims that the propensity to text-message is something which differs greatly between nationalities - I can’t remember where I saw the survey, but it was of mobile phone users in various countries, and how often they used text messages compared to calling. The UK topped the list, and America was somewhere in the middle, with IIRC Italy being the most likely to make actual calls. And there wasn’t a direct correlation between these attitudes and the billing systems typical to those countries, but rather that it identified which systems fitted better into each existing social system. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/14 "2006-01-02T22:12:26Z")
On that point, here’s some recent data and opinion. First up is “Text Messages Sent By Cellphone Finally Catch On In US” ( **Wall Street Journal** , August 2005): > [@](#): > > Some 4.7 billion text messages were sent in the U.S. last December, the latest figures available, compared with 2.1 billion a year earlier and 253 million in December 2001, according to CTIA-The Wireless Association. Revenue from text messaging is projected to grow to $4.3 billion in 2006 from $2.5 billion in 2004, says Forrester Research Inc., a technology research firm in Cambridge, Mass. > > Still, the U.S. remains a laggard in “texting” compared with many other regions of the world. CTIA estimates that in 2004, U.S. cellphone users sent 203 text messages on average, or 37 billion in total, while in China, cellphone users exchanged 651 per user, or 218 billion in total, according to the Chinese information industry ministry. About 71% of European cellphone users send text messages, more than twice the percentage in the U.S., says Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester. > > Despite the slow start, all the trend lines in the U.S. are pointing up. Verizon Wireless reports that its subscribers sent more than 10 billion text messages in 2004 – more than three times the number in 2003. Two to three years ago youth were the target market for text messaging, says Doug Busk, an executive at the carrier, which is owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC. “I don’t believe it’s the case any more,” he says. > > Text messaging usage is much higher in Europe and Asia largely because most cellphone users there pay per call or per message. Since text messages generally cost less than voice calls, customers have an economic incentive to go that route. In Britain, depending on calling plans, customers of wireless operator Orange may pay as much as 63 cents a minute to call customers of other U.K. mobile networks, while a text message costs only 18 cents, according to prices listed on Orange’s Web site. An article from the **Daily Telegraph** over here, also from August 2005, suggested - with only anecdotal evidence - that there are cultural differences in communication styles; the writer claimed that Americans are less reticent about conversation than Britons. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/15 "2006-01-02T22:30:15Z")
When I want to call someone, I call them. But I spend a fair amount of time in noisy environments and/or on public transportation, where my hearing problem would make it impossible to carry on a conversation. Text messaging makes it so much easier, especially when most of what I need is exchanges like this: ETA? 8ish. or, Going to be late. or, (as I messaged several weeks back) Hazmat trucks at city hall. Check news. As for it being faster or slower than talking … typing on any sort of device takes practice. I type fast on a computer because I’ve been doing it since I was six. I type moderately fast on a cel phone because I’ve spent a fair amount of time entering numbers into my phone book or texting short messages to my parents. It’s certainly a lot faster than trying to understand someone I can’t hear. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/16 "2006-01-02T23:11:14Z")
> [@Dragonblink](#): > > ETA? > 8ish. > > or, > > Going to be late. When come, bring pie. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/17 "2006-01-03T00:12:25Z")
> [@Dragonblink](#): > > or, (as I messaged several weeks back) > Hazmat trucks at city hall. Check news. This reminds me of the July 7th bombs in London…I fired off messages mid-morning to my sister and her boyfriend, both of whom work in the City, simply saying “you ok?”, and got replies back later in the day saying “yes, everything OK”. Much much less intrusive and far more efficient than trying to phone them, when they were probably inundated with all sorts of extra hassle anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/18 "2006-01-03T00:53:29Z")
It is \*\*much \*\*less intrusive to the receiver. A call means you must deal with it RIGHT NOW, as I am that important, and YOU MUST be interupted from your unimportant life because I am that important. A txt message is much more polite, and many people feel good about getting them. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/19 "2006-01-03T00:59:40Z")
I love it. I text my daughter several times a week when she’s in school. She reads it during passing period or lunch. Usually it’s “what time do I need to pick you up?” or “get a ride, won’t be home” type stuff. There is no other way with our schedules that can guarantee that we both will get the messages. I like getting them as well. I am slow at it, but getting better. No idea the cost, but I think it’s less than a call. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099/20 "2006-01-03T01:18:05Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I like getting them as well. I am slow at it, but getting better Just to let you know that most txt msg can be emailed from a computer. Either by going to the web site of the provider (Verizon, Nextel) and entering it there or emailing it directly using the domand of the provider (i.e the cell number 203-555-1212 on verizon wireless would be [2035551212@vtext.com](mailto:2035551212@vtext.com) ) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perplexed-about-text-messaging/338099.md?page=2)