{"id":21879,"date":"2012-12-08T21:14:50","date_gmt":"2012-12-09T02:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2021-08-14T19:48:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T23:48:20","slug":"omg-texting-bday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/omg-texting-bday\/","title":{"rendered":"OMG Texting bday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OMG20 years ago this week, one of the largest phenomenons of web 2.0 emerged. On December 3rd, 1992, a 22-year-old Canadian test engineer sat down and typed out a very simple message, “Merry Christmas.” Gizmodo<\/em><\/a> says<\/a> the text flew over the Vodafone<\/a> (VOD<\/a>) network to the phone of Richard Jarvis, and since then, we just haven’t been able to stop texting.<\/p>\n

\"Texting<\/a>Texting is a major staple of communication now, and by far the main use of a phone for many, but it didn’t start out that way. In the very beginning, texts were just a way to send network notifications, namely to let you know you had a voice mail. In 1993,\u00a0Nokia<\/a> (NOK<\/a>) became the first company to make GSM<\/a> handsets capable of person-to-person texting, but it still didn’t skyrocket to popularity for several years.<\/p>\n

Growth of texting<\/h3>\n

ComputerWorld<\/em><\/a> reports<\/a> that in late 1995, three years after Papworth’s first text message, users were only sending an average of one text every two and a half months. In 2000 the industry counted 17 billion text messages, according to data from Ericsson<\/a>. In 2010, the world sent over 6.1 trillion SMS messages<\/a>\u00a0or roughly 193,000 per second.<\/p>\n

\"POTUS<\/a>Today, upwards of 7 trillion text messages are sent every year\u2014that’s more than 200,000 per second.\u00a0 So while you’re launching your daily flurry of textuals, take a second to consider the fact that your inane contributions are part of zeta-flood of data.<\/p>\n

Digital Trends<\/a><\/em> claims<\/a> that texting is becoming obsolete. They cite data from Chetan Sharma<\/a>, an independent mobile analyst and wireless carrier consultant, who reports that the number of text message exchanges in the U.S. had dropped by about 2 percent in the third quarter. This is a sharp difference from the steady growth that text messaging had previously seen. Sharma says it\u2019s the first time that text messaging has begun to dwindle in the United States.<\/p>\n

rb-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Texting is still a huge part of the way people communicate via mobile devices, but the emergence of new messaging options has led to the first decline in SMS volume. <\/em><\/p>\n

Apple<\/a>‘s (AAPL<\/a>)\u00a0iMessage<\/a>, which operates almost \"Textingexactly like a text message but only communicates between Apple devices<\/a>. iMessage completely bypasses the carrier when sending text messages between iPhones.<\/em><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a>‘s<\/a> (<\/a>FB<\/a>)<\/a> Messenger app<\/a>, which essentially exists as the mobile presence for the social network\u2019s instant messaging feature. Facebook\u2019s Messenger app can be used across multiple platforms, which could give it an advantage when it comes to text messaging alternatives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hopefully, the competition will force AT&T<\/a> (T<\/a>) to stop overcharging its customer. Gizmodo claims\u00a0AT&T\u2019s New Text Plan Overcharges You by 10,000,000 Percent. Literally lead the way toward cheaper texting plans<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/h3>\n
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