Let’s not forget that the cell phone companies all LOVE text messaging - it’s where they make the majority of their money, imho.
I’m in my fifties and I honestly can’t see a reason to text. I have a cell phone, although it is currently with my 18 yo son, who is away at college (yes, he’s taken over my phone completely…:(). Not to go off on a tangent, but I’ve been trying to add a line and switch to a family plan for a while, but not having much success with it–I go to the store, and they tell me that I’ll get a better deal online, but online I can’t seem to get it to accept that I need to get 1 more line and phone, and switch over to a family plan. GAH!
The sole purpose for me having a cell phone is for emergencies; when I carried it, I didn’t even turn it on unless I was going to make a call. It was extremely useful on 9/11–it was the only way I was able to get through to my daughter, who was at home because the landlines were NOT working at all. I also would occasionally give the phone to my daughter to carry when she ran errands for me, in case she needed to call me about something (which she invariably did!).
I do not want to text mainly because of the prohibitive costs. I know that you can include it in a plan, but it’s still outrageously expensive for something that’s really unnecessary. IMO.
Sure, helpful in theory, but mine always gets it wrong! Very wrong! “Thanks” ends up as “Thickls”. And that’s the least of it. I always give up and change the mode to get rid of that damn predictive stuff. But then, I’m too old for this junk, too, so I’m probably doing it all wrong.
I believe that I am the only 19-year-old in existence who doesn’t use that silly shorthand. It actually really bothers me in instant messages and email (I’m sympathetic to texters without Sidekicks or Blackberries!) – are you that freaking lazy to type out two extra letters?
The only reason I can think of for texting, rather than calling, is if a person were in a situation where they couldn’t talk, in class, in a boring meeting, where you didn’t want people listening in (and frankly, SOME people should be texting who are instead having loud and boring conversations without consideration for others).
Predictive text input. The thing is, on average, it’s way faster and requires fewer keystrokes to spell out complete words and use punctuaton with predictive input than to use those horrible abbreviations. For example, “See you later.” on my phone takes 13 keystrokes with prediction on, while “C u l8tr” requires 18 keystrokes with prediction off. With prediction on, “C u l8tr” takes 15 keystrokes. In general, trying to type abbreviations and such with prediction turned on is a big hassle, especially when compared to proper words.
Anyway, my friends and I find text messages useful for “heads-up” messages, like “I’m in the computer lab” or “Don’t bother coming in, class was canceled.” For reference purposes, I’m 21.
I am only 28, not old, but certainly didn’t grow up with this stuff around me. I thought text messaging seemed pretty silly, and only pretty recently even started using IM on the computer. I don’t use my cell phone IM reguarly, mostly because nobody I know really uses it, so I don’t have a plan with it included. At 10 cents a message without a plan it adds up quick.
But it is immensely useful. I don’t always want to call and talk to somebody for 10 minutes or more, and sometimes if I am asking a question or relaying short bits of information, or am in class or such, IMs are clearly superior. All the above reasons in this thread are valid, and make IMing seem very valuable to me, makes me wish I knew more people that used it themselves.
I’m twenty-seven; I text almost all of my friends. Like others have said, it’s more succinct than a phone conversation, and more convenient–I have never enjoyed talking on the phone–and it’s also more discreet. I don’t talk on my cell at work, for obvious reasons, but I text on it frequently, b/c I can do it when I have time.
And I have a theory that texting is like video games for girls; all of my girlfriends love texting, while most guys I know are very “C u @ 8” about it. Short and to the point. Girls get into it; guys, FTMP, really don’t see the “fun” of it.
And I’ll admit, I text when I’m bored, when I want to waste some time, when I’m stuck in a long line, etc., and I just want something to do. My friends do the same thing to me. I even text my boss when he’s away; that way I can say “I need X” without interrupting whatever he’s doing or wasting our time in the whole “Hey so what’s up/listen to X Y and Z/okay talk to you later” thing. In a way it’s honestly more polite than a phone call.
I text far more than I talk on my phone; it costs me about six bucks a month for a thousand text messages. To me it’s worth it, and I’d sorely miss it if it were gone.
Old dude checking in…I have enough problems typing in names in my address book…but I suppose if I practiced, I could get the hang of it. However, the buttons on my razor phone are about the size of molecules and it ain’t easy for my fingers to zip through the keys. Maybe with a microscope and an ice pick…
However, at least in my circle (and yes, I do have much younger friends and family) we just shut off our cell phones when we don’t want to talk and then I listen to voice mail.
Geez, I probably sound like my parents in the 60’s, “why do I need a remote control on my TV, that’s why we have kids…”
I just had to reply here and say that your uses of ‘boring’ here made me laugh. before you ask why, I don’t really know. but lol anyway.
as for the OP, I text a lot, mainly when I am (or it is possible that the textee is) in a situation where talking on the phone would be inappropriate. I also text when there’s something I want to tell/ask several people at once. on occasion I have used it to avoid chitchat, which I fairly dislike unless it’s with someone I never see.
I’m 36 and probably considered to be old-fashioned when it comes to text messaging. I’ve eschewed text messaging for the same reasons others have pointed out. I find it very annoying to try reading something written like this: mt me 4 lnch @ 2 cya l8r. This also seems to lead to bad writing habits in emails, making them more difficult to read and understand. It must also be an incredible pain to compose messages with the limitations of a 10-digit keypad. If cell phones contained a full QWERTY keypad I might try it, but even then, it would be too bothersome to try pressing those tiny little keys to compose the message.
