Y, I use txt msgng lotz, evn tho its 10c/msg snd + rcv. New Canadian inter-std msg gatewy: I cn snd msgs 2 friends not on GSM system. Email gateway too; cn snd 2 friends w/ email & RIM Blackberry.
Txt msgs good 4 when too noisy or impolite 2 talk. Mostly short msgs: “R U on 5:04 bus?” & similar. Msgs in EN, some in FR, lots in EO. No ZH… yet, but are many phones that support ZH.
Text messaging advantages over calls: it costs me 10p to send one text message that says “5.30pm in the Columbia Bar” and I can do it subtly in my training course. A call would probably get me asked to leave the room, cost me 35p/min with a potential minimum call charge of 1-3 minutes and invite discussion when I just want to pass on information.
I use text messaging a few times a day, mainly for talking to my girlfriend (via an email gateway). I signed up with a radio station so I also get messages telling me when to listen for a certain song to win $94.50 (which I’ve never done).
However, I haven’t seen anyone else using text messaging. Most cell phone owners in the US probably don’t subscribe to a service that allows them to send messages, and those who do probably aren’t aware of it. It just seems simpler to make a 1-minute call, which is essentially free on nights/weekends with many plans, or use a landline for free.
Reasons I use sms over calling:
1 - saves airtime
2 - other party doesn’t have to be there at the time to receive the message
3 - less intrusive for receiver
4 - less obnoxious for me to use
5 - lets me think what I want to say and change it before i send it
5 - lets me compose what I say in a no signal/bad signal and send it when I get back in range (I did this on a subway once where I got about 5 seconds of signal underground - no way could I dial, wait for an answer and talk in that time)
6 - easier for the reciever and me if i’m in a noisy place
7 - Laws against talking on a cell phone when driving (just kidding)
It’s quite popular in Denmark, last year over 700 million text messages where send. The country has a population of a little over 5 million people.
Everyone and their dog has a gsm phone here.
Doesn’t that work out to nearly every adult, then? <tangent>That’s as scary as the article I read recently about harry potter: from the US sales figures( 70 something million), it translates to nearly 1 in 4 people owning a copy of the first book. </tangent> Anyway, are mobile phones cheaper in the UK than landlines?
Not really.
There are a huge variety of price plans on BT and the smaller cable carriers, but most involve a monthly or quarterly line rental element (often combined with a discount price plan option) that works out at between £15 and £30 per month. Add in timed local calls at between 1p and around 6p per minute (depending on whether it’s local, local NTS, regional, national or national NTS).
Mobile calls usually involve either pay-as-you-go plans where you buy prepaid credit (but incur greater call charges and less freebies) or monthly contracts. My contract, including call charges, works out at about £35 - £50 a month. My fixed line (which is bundled with dial-up internet unlimited access and basic digital TV) costs me £30 - £50 too, but if you remove the added extras it’s definitely cheaper.
Yup, pretty much (a small proportion of people have more than one phone - maybe they have their own and another is provided by their employer…)
**At one point, I believe that the number of (CD) copies of Dire Straits Brothers In Arms in UK circularion exceeeded the number of CD players. Interesting, but scary how?
No; they are typically between £12 and £30 per month line rental*, which often includes a chunk of free minutes and text messages. Calls are more expensive than land-line by a factor of (again depending very much on tariff) maybe five.
Here are some examples from Orange
Often the handset will be offered free on signing a 12 month contract (I got my Nokia 8210e ‘free’ with a bundle of other stuff), although if you want fancy features like colour screen, photo messaging, inbuilt MP3 player, there will obviously be an initial cost; the provider (theoretically)recoups the cost of the handset from the profits on your first year’s line rental and chargable minutes.
*There are pay-as-you-go schemes; these usually have a marginally higher initial cost.
You know, I still haven’t a clue what the point of text messaging is. So far I’ve heard one viable reason; that is, for deaf students to talk to thier friends without their friends having to go thru the trouble of becoming fluent in ASL.
Ok I understand using it to communicate when you can’t use your phone for it’s original function. ie. while riding the train or in conference meeting or what-have-you. But that’s a pretty limited use for such a widespread fad. Especially considering that one could show a teensy bit of patience and wait till you got off the train. If you want to talk that bad, why not strike up a conversation with one of the plentiful and random strangers standing not 2 feet away from you?
Someone mentioned that it’s less intrusive than calling a body up at 3 in the morning or when the recipient just doesn’t happen to be there to answer the phone. And it’s true. But about voice mail? The above is true of that as well.
Lastly, ya’ll say it’s cheaper than a quick verbal conversation. And perhaps it is. But the way I see it is, if your shelling out that much scratch just to talk, then maybe you shouldn’t be talking so damn much. You could use the time between phone calls for personal reflection upon that deep, black void staring at you from under your feet. Or you could just simply study all the myriad other souls talking to thems’elves into some wierd, tiny box that they hold up to thier ears. Who knows? It could be a very religious experience, what with all the silence surrounding you.
Then again I may be just an old fuddy-duddy with strange, antiquated thought patterns. Who knows, hey? 
You know, I still haven’t a clue what the point of text messaging is. So far I’ve heard one viable reason; that is, for deaf students to talk to thier friends without their friends having to go thru the trouble of becoming fluent in ASL.
Ok I understand using it to communicate when you can’t use your phone for it’s original function. ie. while riding the train or in conference meeting or what-have-you. But that’s a pretty limited use for such a widespread fad. Especially considering that one could show a teensy bit of patience and wait till you got off the train. If you want to talk that bad, why not strike up a conversation with one of the plentiful and random strangers standing not 2 feet away from you?
Someone mentioned that it’s less intrusive than calling a body up at 3 in the morning or when the recipient just doesn’t happen to be there to answer the phone. And it’s true. But about voice mail? The above is true of that as well.
Lastly, ya’ll say it’s cheaper than a quick verbal conversation. And perhaps it is. But the way I see it is, if your shelling out that much scratch just to talk, then maybe you shouldn’t be talking so damn much. You could use the time between phone calls for personal reflection upon that deep, black void staring at you from under your feet. Or you could just simply study all the myriad other souls talking to thems’elves into some wierd, tiny box that they hold up to thier ears. Who knows? It could be a very religious experience, what with all the silence surrounding you.
Then again I may be just an old fuddy-duddy with strange, antiquated thought patterns. Who knows, hey?
How much spam is there? So far.
I love text messaging. Mostly for the reasons given above. I travel a lot internationally, and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper text messaging than phoning. For example, I have a Vodaphone subscription in Hungary. When I was in Moscow, to receive or make calls was something like $3-$5/minute! However, if I used Moscow’s Bee Network, there was a special agreement with Vodaphone, such that text messaging (or SMSing) was free. It was actually cheaper for me to send messages from Moscow than from Budapest…how weird is that?
OK, perhaps that was an exceptional case, but the best reason is being stuck in loud places where you can’t hear the other person on the line. SMSing is a savior for those crowded bars, loud trains, or even simply walking in the street during rush hour. It’s extremely convenient. Or a simple message like “Let’s meet at 8” seems to be more conventient in text form rather than actually calling the person. If I SMS, I don’t want a whole conversation usually. I just want to pass on a simple piece of information.
Spam SMS messages? - I’ve heard of them, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as widespread as email spam. In four years have received two unsolicited text messages, both of which were from my service provider, trying to get me to register for their SMS news/weather/sport/whatever bulletin services.
Barking Dog: I think the appeal is similar to that of chat rooms, but I can’t put my finger on it.
barking dog, why do you post in a message board? you could call a party line instead.
It’s not the adults, it’s the adolescents. They do most of the text messaging, I think I’m right in saying.
You know, I still haven’t a clue what the point of text messaging is. So far I’ve heard one viable reason; that is, for deaf students to talk to thier friends without their friends having to go thru the trouble of becoming fluent in ASL.
Ok I understand using it to communicate when you can’t use your phone for it’s original function. ie. while riding the train or in conference meeting or what-have-you. But that’s a pretty limited use for such a widespread fad. Especially considering that one could show a teensy bit of patience and wait till you got off the train. If you want to talk that bad, why not strike up a conversation with one of the plentiful and random strangers standing not 2 feet away from you?
Someone mentioned that it’s less intrusive than calling a body up at 3 in the morning or when the recipient just doesn’t happen to be there to answer the phone. And it’s true. But about voice mail? The above is true of that as well.
Lastly, ya’ll say it’s cheaper than a quick verbal conversation. And perhaps it is. But the way I see it is, if your shelling out that much scratch just to talk, then maybe you shouldn’t be talking so damn much. You could use the time between phone calls for personal reflection upon that deep, black void staring at you from under your feet. Or you could just simply study all the myriad other souls talking to thems’elves into some wierd, tiny box that they hold up to thier ears. Who knows? It could be a very religious experience, what with all the silence surrounding you.
Then again I may be just an old fuddy-duddy with strange, antiquated thought patterns. Who knows, hey?
Some of us use text messaging for work. Myself, for instance.
A good example was today, while I was training a customer on how to use an online program. I was able to take a moment and, right in front of the customer, send a message to her sales rep saying that I didn’t think she’d keep the product, with her none the wiser.
There’s probably a phone on your desk. So why do you bother to use e-mail? The answer to that should all apply.
Public transport is also a big factor. Do you expect me to stand there in the train doing nothing for an hour, then take valuable time afterwards to make phone calls? It’s much more efficient to type out a few text messages while on the train.
First off, I have no idea why my post got posted thrice and several hours apart. Wiggy.
Well, I suppose I could do that, but would you be there? Honestly, how many of ya’ll would call a partyline to talk about this very subject, instead of posting on this bulletin board? In any case <b>OOCC</b> your question is irrelevant. The discussion is not about the use of public discussion forums, but about why so many people worldwide use text messaging phones.
I ‘deign’ to use email because it’s cheaper for me, and my pen-pals, to keep in touch. I already pay my ISP for the service, so it’s a tad more cost effective then paying for the ISP AND going out and buying a decent non-jamming type-writer (I unfortunately have poor handwriting), stationery, ink, and postage. I do not use it to send two sentence letters to the guy in the next cubicle over.
Right then, we’ve proven that SMS is actually cheaper than regular calls in certain cases. And that they are useful in certain professional situations or in loud, over crowded areas. Yet all that still doesn’t account for the fact that everybody and their dog has an SMS phone. I still say that, on the whole, text messaging is pretty much a silly fad and actually is useful to a minority of people spread out around the globe.
And now, for the strippers…
P.S. and I’d like to say that, if my first post sounded a smidge condescending or what have you, then I’m really sorry for that. Didn’t mean to really. I’ll tend to not do that in the future.
“If chaos was lightning, then he’d be the sort to stand on a hilltop in the middle of a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shout, ‘All gods are bastards!’” ~Rincewind, of Twoflower; Terry Pratchett