Horse pucky! Part of the OP was why text vs email. I don’t believe that I know anyone who doesn’t have a smart phone these days, which means they have internet/email access just as easily as they have access to a phone. Mine, like many people’s, is setup that it alerts me when an email is received, which means there is virtually no difference between them, other than emails aren’t limited to 140 chara. Further, email is a relatively low-bandwidth application, so if you’re on a limited data plan, email is not really affecting your data limits (like watching YouTube would); however, unless you’re paying extra for unlimited texts, there is a cost to texting.
Because most of my e-mails are work-related, and I’d really like to not be dealing with work 24/7. Most of my texts are personal. Also, not everyone I communicate with wants to use e-mail - several members of the group specifically told me they prefer an SMS.
Also, when the wireless internet is turned on - does it drain the cell phone battery more quickly? That’s probably a dumb question so feel free to laugh at my old-lady lack of tech savvy. But it seemed like, for that brief period when I had my e-mails turned on, my smart phone was always running out of power.
CairoCarol - if you set up your smartphone to automatically search for new E-mails at timed intervals, it does drain the battery significantly faster. With all the E-mail I get between my work and home accounts, I don’t want the thing going off constantly - especially since at work, I’m probably at my desktop computer half the day or more and don’t need the E-mail notification on my phone too. So I set mine to only retrieve E-mail when I open the E-mail program.
This is yet another reason why my husband and I don’t E-mail each other but do send a couple texts during the day with random questions - setting your smartphone to automatically “push” E-mails to you will drain the battery faster, and we’re both already doing battery-draining things with the phones. In my case, my building has shitty cell reception and the constant searching for a better signal runs the battery down fast. In his case, he’s streaming audio and sometimes that can involve signal issues as well. So a text is super-easy to send and doesn’t force the phone to do yet another battery-draining thing.
Plus both of us have the “poor timing for a phone call” issues with our workplaces, etc., so texts are easy.
We’re not crazy about texting. Usually we’ll send 1-2 to each other per day, sometimes just an “I love you!” or a “do you want me to pick up anything on my way home?”
Not everyone I know has a smartphone. One of those people is my boss.
Opening email can take a while if I am in a place with poor coverage like where I spend 80% of my workday. I don’t want to be constantly having to check my email. When I get a text, my phone buzzes and I can see it. I can easily reply without opening the email application and spending god knows how long trying to send the reply.
I get a ton of emails, most of which don’t require my immediate attention. I don’t want my phone to alert me every fifteen minutes whenever I get an email.
I don’t have a smartphone. Coincidentally, this ties in to why I text people rather than call them, which is that I hate talking on telephones and will only do it if there is absolutely no other way to get a hold of someone. I hate having to hold the thing up to my ear, I hate having to pay so much attention to one single stream of noises so I can decipher it out of context, and I hate having the whole conversation out loud where random housemates and strangers can hear me. I would rather thumb-smash a conversation, even if it means wrangling with a T9 predictive dictionary.
I also have not handwritten anything meant to be functional that was longer than a grocery list in years. (I do sometimes write things tidily if they are meant to be decorative.) I type at dictation speed; I scrawl much more slowly. Some people just adapt well to asynchronous electronic communications, and I’m one of them.
Texting is very efficient for really short one-way communiques and very short back and forths.
IMO, the benefit of texting depend entirely on the content of the message and whether or not a fast response is needed.
I agree that emails are less efficient in many cases, but I refuse to believe those that abhor voicemails as being a useless relic. I can call someone and get an issue completely resolved with a one minute call, but that same resolution takes fifteen or more minutes via texting. Granted some people leave meandering VM’s that really say nothing, but mine are always full of a whole lot of information that is best said and not texted.
This may be hyperbole, but it has some truth to it.
A differentiation between communication types and the types that tend to use those methods needs to be made.
I never come close to touching my monthly minutes each month, but sometimes texts can cause me a slight overage. The efficiency of texting falls apart when a 50 second call can resolve an issue when it would take five times as long over a leisurely text exchange would. People that say that anything and everything can be effectively communicated via text, either exchange really simple ideas all day, or forfeit solving problems quickly for solving then conveniently.
I can’t begin to count the amount of time I’ve saved by simply asking someone over the phone, rather than waiting half a day for a return email. My office manager sends emails all day, and guess who gets the real answer first?
I was a late adapter with texting, because I had very little to say to anyone that was that short. I see the merits of quick texting, but it will never be a substitute for a conversation, even if one isn’t needed.
I don’t have a smart phone and I almost never have my phone in my possession. Texts cost me .20 each, and sending is a pain since all I have are the phone buttons rather than a keyboard.
My daughter texts all the time, even when it makes no sense. She’ll text my husband a question and their back-and-forth may take half a dozen messages that could be replaced with a single 15-second phone call. And I won’t get into the joy of having her suddenly leave a face-to-face conversation because a text just came to her. :rolleyes:
A few years ago I picked up a set of drums for my nephew that he had purchased online. I rang up the woman who owned them to arrange the pickup. After agreeing on a time I asked her where she lived and she explained that it was hard to get to but asked which direction I would be coming from. She said she’d SMS me directions. Seconds after I hung up a detailed text arrived.
When I picked them up I asked her about it. She was sick of trying to explain how to get to her place so had drafts saved for whatever direction you came from. It was no surprise when she told me she worked in project management.
'cos the only relative of mine who has a smartphone is my cousin, who hates it with the fire of about 10000 burning suns: she got it from her job and they think that means they can call her at any time. She started switching it off when she’s off-work after that one call at 1am (she’s not emergency personnel, nor does she have a position where documents may become necessary at 1am).
I think I agree with fairychatmom - it’s a generational thing. We don’t have smartphones. I use the phone so infrequently that I but 1000 minutes on my prepaid phone every year, and I’ve never used it all up when the year’s up. I guess that’s the big disconnect for me - I couldn’t care less about having a phone with me all the time, so texting just doesn’t fit my isolated lifestyle. Thanks for all the input, everyone.
I disagree that it’s a generational thing. I have friends/relatives ranging from teens to 70s, and there are people in all age groups who do and don’t text. From my vantage point, it has more to do with how comfortable people are with technology. Although it’s true that in general the younger people are, the more they text, I know people in their 20s who don’t text, and people in their 70s who do.
My age group - 40s into low 50s - it’s a crapshoot. I’d say 80% of those people text, another 10% will receive texts but probably won’t respond via text, and the remaining 10% don’t have a cell phone/don’t know how to get a text on it.
For me, I find it really convenient for short messages - “hey, remember to pick up milk!” and for situations where it might not be convenient or feasible to answer the phone. Meeting people in crowded/loud places, for example, it’s MUCH easier to text than to try to find a quiet spot to make a phone call. I also sometimes don’t want to interrupt a conversation in order to answer the phone. A text allows me to take a quick look, and respond (if needed) at a good stopping point in the conversation.
Simply said, phone calls are more interruptive than texts, and they’re impossible if you’re not in a quiet space.
I agree with Athena. It is certainly not a generational thing and if you still think that then you haven’t been reading this thread for comprehension. Pretty much everyone who has posted here has not said that texting is a replacement for voice calls. We have said that there are some clear and obvious situations where texting is more efficient. Not understanding that isn’t a generational thing, it’s willful ignorance.
Communication of a clear concise message that is not always possible in a interactive conversation due to the 2 sided nature (aka phone conversation) and has the ability to be basically instant unlike email (txting uses the same protocol as ringing your cell phone, so it’s fast - unlike email that is periodically checked for.)
I do think there is a disconnect between a lot of the reasons that people here have given and why some of the most famous texters, teenagers, text.
According to this, the average teenager sends 3,339 texts per month. That is over a 100 a day. It sound like they ARE using it more as a conversation replacement than a “I just need to send a piece of information to someone without the hassle of calling them.”
It’s quicker, and I can get my message across without a 30 minute phone call. When i need to know something, I can’t tell if its a good time for the other person to talk or not, but they can receive a text and glanceatthe message almost any time. I am on my fourth or fifth smartphone, and I have found the phone quality horrible on all of them. I now text more than I talk.
I get a lot of emails each day, I have three accounts that I use, and it would take quite a while to download them all to see if someone wants something.
I wouldn’t say it’s generational; I’m in my sixties and my husband in his mid-seventies. We both text, but I more than he. I think everyone I know texts.
If you do have a smartphone, keeping the internet (wireless, 3g or otherwise) connection active can be a real drain on the battery.
Some people have limited-data internet plans. Yes an email doesn’t take much data, but I prefer to keep my internet connection switched off unless I’m actively using it because that helps me manage my usage and not go over my limit. So there’s no point pushing email, because half the time my connection isn’t even on.
I use the WhatsApp texting app to communicate with everyone with a smartphone; I don’t see what advantage email has over it. It’s easier to use, and it lets you keep track of conversation strings.
