Why would anyone with a brain waste their time text-messaging on cell

[Seabiscuit]

phones?

I feel like Josh in the boardroom in the movie "Big": I don't get it.

[RagingInMiami]

1. If you have a limited amount of minutes per month

Or if circuits in an area are all busy or out of whack, as they were down here after the hurricane recently.


Some people send out mass messages on cell phones to all their friends.

[JVS]

2. It's good if you want to provide and address or directions to a friend.

[billyskank]

3. I do it when I want to say just a sentence or two to my brother

but I can't be bothered getting into a whole conversation.

[Seabiscuit]

6. Wouldn't it take longer to text message something like:

"Hi, I just left the house and I'm on my way. Be there in about 40 minutes. Bye." Than to call and say the same thing?

[jayctravis]

33. No, because my phone has preformatted text.

I would select a name from my address book, hit the right button and select "send text message". Select the message body, right button and "insert text". Select "On my way" and possibly also enter ETA. Then hit send and I'm done.

I've made my own text to insert. The one I most use is "what's up?" if I'm curious to hear from a friend but don't want to interrupt if they're busy. Usually they'll message back or call at their leisure.

Think of it as Instant Message for phones.

[billyskank]

58. It would be quicker to say it

but I would get into a conversation which would end up taking longer. Basically I send a text message for things that I would send in an email but when I'm not at the computer, or I want him to see it right away (because he is likely to see a text message faster than an email).

Besides, typing out the text doesn't take so long because my phone has predictive text.

I know text messaging never caught on in the States, but here in Britain we do it all the time.

[jayctravis]

4. Text messaging is great when you don't want to bother someone.

If you just want to say hi or "call me when you get time."

At my job we are not allowed to answer cellphones, but we can often glance at a message if necessary.

[anarch]

9. or when you don't want to be bothered talking to someone

but you have to tell them something.

[Ladyhawk]

14. Exactly. My mother doesn't understand my hatred of phone conversations.

I hate talking on the phone. I'd rather text-message someone.

[realisticphish]

5. if service is sporadic

it's great. rather than worry about dropping a call, a tm only need a split second of service, and it's through.

not to mention communicating in situations where you CAN'T talk, like a movie theater, concert, or in a lecture

[Seabiscuit]

7. You identified something I really don't understand.

If you can't sit through a movie, concert, or lecture, without gabbing through a little hand-held machine, maybe you shouldn't be attending the movie, concert, or lecture in the first place?

Doesn't text messaging in such a situation just feed an addiction to an electronic gadget? Civilization is seriously declining if large numbers of people have become so dependent on these gadgets that they can't attend a concert or pay attention to a lecture without being distracted by the lure of the addictive properties of these gadgets.

[jayctravis]

38. It's rude to answer a phone in a movie.

But you can set your text message alert to either blink or vibrate briefly, and you can glance at it usually without interrupting what you're doing. Essentially it's using the phone as a pager which the user can choose to ignore or act upon depending on the situation. Often it's a matter of if my phone flashes somewhere inappropriate I can glance at who is calling. If it's a text message I can see what it's about, whereas if it was just a missed call it's going to nag at me whether I need to step out and call back. I'd much rather see "411 call wyc" (need info, call when you can) and go back to what I was doing rather than interrupt a movie for my friend to ask what type of memory chip his cpu uses. Often a text message is a good way to set up a phone call in the future so neither person is inconvenienced.

Yes, I understand what you're saying about an electronic gadget and our "addiction" to them. But there are some people who either have jobs where they always need to be in contact (these devices are a godsend so they *can* do things like go into a movie without making arrangements to inform the manager to fetch them if they get an important call) or have situations where they need to be reachable (sick child, perhaps).

Nobody's forcing you to acquire and use text messaging if you hate it. It's simply another option for people.

[Seabiscuit]

61. I understand your point, but...

If you're working you shouldn't be in a movie theater in the first place.

And if you're not working, no one from work needs to reach you that urgently. So if you're not working, the only messages you're going to get are personal which are only urgent once in a blue moon.

People did just fine with their cell phones off and checking their voice-mail after they leave the movie theater. Why have your concentration interrupted reading text messages during the movie?

And people did just fine with land line phones and answering machines before cell phones came along.

I just don't understand the need some people now feel to constantly be talking to someone, or sending or receiving messages to or from someone be it in a movie theater, a lecture hall, or even a grocery store, whether using a cell phone or text messaging. Can't that kind of talk wait a few hours or even a few minutes?

Anderson Cooper was interviewing some experts on manners tonight and one person called in to complain about the gross conversations she overhears in grocery stores from people yapping on their cell phones in the aisles. The experts pointed out that when on a cell phone in a public place one's mind is somewhere else, and the user tends to become oblivious to the fact that their behavior is affecting all kinds of people around them that they're not even aware of because they're busy talking to someone on the phone who isn't physically there.

Text messaging does solve the rudeness problem, but it still puts your mind somewhere where your body isn't. I just hope people never get to the point of trying to text message while driving a vehicle.

OK. Rant over. :)

[jayctravis]

73. Okay, you've convinced me, you're completely right.

I'm going to call tomorrow and cancel my cellphone. There will be a $275 early disconnect fee, but it will be worth it, for I did not know how much my life was being intruded upon and ruined for having a cell phone.

Thank you, thank you, for showing me the error of my ways. I cannot believe we ever believed in such...technology. What could I possibly have been thinking in even deigning to own a cellphone when they were making people I didn't even know angry!!

Dammit, nobody needs to ever call me unless I'm at home. If I break down on the highway, I'll goshdarn walk to a service station like they did in the Pioneer days!

I'm so happy to be free of all this gosh-darn communication. I can get back to letter writing and brush up on my morse code skills.

[Seabiscuit]

81. Awww... that's so sweet....

I used to use morse code with a ham radio set I built in high school (many many moons ago). I spent more time sending and receiving messages in morse code than I did talking on the phone.

I do carry a cell phone when I drive, but almost never have occasion to use it. I mainly find it useful as (1) pyschological security knowing that if I got stranded in the middle of nowhere in the car I could call for help easily; (2) if I'm away longer than I planned to be I can call and let my wife know; (3) if my wife or baby has an emergency my wife can contact me immediately.

[jayctravis]

83. Starting to think you're just a grumpy "BACK IN THE OLDEN DAYS" person.

I used to use morse code with a ham radio set I built in high school (many many moons ago). I spent more time sending and receiving messages in morse code than I did talking on the phone

But doesn't it take a lot longer to use morse code to say, "Hi, I just left the house and I'm on my way. Be there in about 40 minutes. Bye." Than to text message and say the same thing?

Mhm. You know morse code, which most people understand is a method of communicating which doesn't require a lot of bandwidth - enough that in an emergency situation where voice transmission isn't feasible, morse can get through even if you just do it with radio static. It's been pointed out that text messaging can get through when a voice call can't, can save people money, can save people embarassment when a distraction is not feasible...

You've also pointed out that if someone can't sit through a two hour movie without getting a call they shouldn't be there. When I pointed out that doctors and some other type of workers have to be on call, you said they were excluded.

Methinks you are playing the Luddite just to get people riled.

[Seabiscuit]

87. If you like, you can think of me as a crabby old great-uncle aghast at

what all the young whipper-snappers are up to these days.

I don't mind. :)

And, btw, I never took my ham radio into movie theaters, or lecture halls, or grocery stores, or restaurants, or anywhere for that matter. And I didn't have long conversations in morse code. I mainly contacted people from all around the world exchanging the same brief kind of identity information and exchanging call cards, which I collected. It was just a hobby. Mainly because I was interested in electronics (I built the stuff).

[jayctravis]

91. So are you no longer interested in electronics?

The basis for cell phones and text messaging more than likely had is basis on all of the discoveries made by our crabby old great uncles.

[Seabiscuit]

97. Not the way I used to be. It was just a high school hobby for me.

I have had an audio/video hobby for decades, though.

I do find cell phones to be a useful invention. I was just curious as to why anyone would want to learn some new numeric code to punch, punch, punch, punch, punch in "text" from one cell phone to another when it's so much easier just to speak into it. Some people here have pointed out some reasons for that I wasn't aware of. I wasn't even aware that it existed until the first season of "American Idol" where Brian Seacrest invited people to vote by both phone and "text messaging". That made me wonder WTF "text messaging" was. Now I know.

OTOH, living in an area where there are too many spoiled people of all ages with too damned much money to burn, and too many SUVs, I have become increasingly irritated over the years with all the really bad SUV drivers in parking lots who are bad primarily because they're always yapping on their cell phones while driving. Especially so since my wife and I now have a 13 month old son and I'm always dodging these assholes trying to avoid a collision. I've seen people get into their cars and before they even put on their seat belts they're on their cell phones, not paying any attention to anyone when they're backing out of their parking spaces. Then there are all the mindless fucks in the shopping malls standing around blocking foot traffic diddling interminably with their cell phones, presumably text messaging or sending pictures back and forth to their friends in another part of the mall.

So I have no objection to the inventions themselves. It's the abuse of them by a seeming growing number of thoughtless people that is messing up the quality of life for others.

[jayctravis]

74. I seriously guess you've never known anyone who was a doctor.

Or who worked in a hospital in an "on call" state?

Or who was paid to be available at any hour of the night should a major computer network go down?

[Seabiscuit]

82. Of course I've known a lot of doctors.

I don't see what doctors being has to do with the essence of the discussion. That's a special circumstance.

[jayctravis]

84. But you said:

If you can't sit through a movie, concert, or lecture, without gabbing through a little hand-held machine, maybe you shouldn't be attending the movie, concert, or lecture in the first place?

then:

I don't see what doctors being has to do with the essence of the discussion. That's a special circumstance.

So only doctors should be allowed to receive a text message in the movie theatre? (We were discussing text messages and not "gabbing through a little hand-held machine", mind you) Does someone receiving or sending a silent text message who is not a doctor really bother you that much?

I'm thinking you're getting a little too annoyed about stuff that *other* people do that really doesn't affect you.

That's sort of a rightwing trait. Not at all that I mean to label you that way, but think about it.

[Seabiscuit]

86. If a doctor is in a movie theater while on call he or she can simply put

their cell phone on vibrate mode and leave the theater to return the call if necessary.

The essence of the discussion is text messaging, and why do people use it? I see no reason for a doctor needing to receive a text message instead of a vibration while in a movie theater while "on call". OTOH, I don't know of any doctors who go to movie theaters while "on call". It's a rather absurd proposition you're making. It's like saying they have to be "on call" while on vacation. No one's "on call" 24 hours a day, 364 days a year.

I'm not the one getting annoyed, btw. I'm just commenting about what I perceive out there.

A lot of posts in this thread have pointed to some really silly and frivolous uses of text messaging.

OTOH, there have been a lot of interesting posts on this thread that opened my eyes somewhat about text messaging and its possible usefulness in certain situations, a subject I was ignorant about.

I don't personally care one way or the other what people do with it. Because I personally can't see any use for it in my life. I'm just curious, that's all.

As for the sarcasm in some of my posts, that's just an attention getter. It seems to have worked.

[asthmaticeog]

98. Oh, it's VERY handy at a concert.

I recently texted a set list and other fun tidbits about the goings-on at a concert to a friend who couldn't be there but was just bonkers about the band and HAD to know what was happening. There'd have been no way to do that by phone - it was too loud, and I wasn't going to spend the entire show chatting on the goddamn phone regardless of the performers' volume. But it took no time to text "Singer's throwing a rockstar hissyfit!" and it didn't bother anyone.

[eyesroll]

8. OK. Here's the scene. I'm in a Korean restaurant with my grandparents and

parents.

The menu says "17 percent gratuity added for parties of 5 or more."

My grandparents are upset because the gratuity was added AFTER tax (5.5%).

So, on a bill of approximately $70, instead of a tip of $11.90, they were "forced" to leave a tip of $12.50.

Keep in mind we're talking about a difference of 60 cents.

They actually called the waitress back.

I could not leave and shout into my cell phone that my grandparents were driving me crazy. I could, however, discreetly text "kill me now" from the bathroom.

[Seabiscuit]

21. So who did you send the message to?

And how did they have any idea what you were talking, er, texting about?

[eyesroll]

26. I sent it to a couple of people who knew where I was going.

(And knew that it had the potential to be annoying.)

[jayctravis]

40. Text is also good for "rescue" calls.

If you need to get out of a situation you can set up an automatic text to someone, "Call back ASAP", discreetly activate it, and when they call you can use it as an excuse to leave.

[jane_pippin]

10. My friend uses it to tell me when Mrs. Doubtfire is on the USA channel

and other ridiculous items of interest that will make me crack up laughing.

Other than that, I don't get it.

[VaYallaDawg]

11. I'm right there with you - guess it's cause I'm an old fart, but I

just can't see doing that.

[Seabiscuit]

17. I have a feeling all us old farts are utterly bewildered by it.

We didn't grow up with computers, cell phones and text messaging. Cell phones are bad enough, why do you have to type a message on a phone when the whole point of a phone is to be able to actually speak to someone?

I hear the cell phone companies now want to install movies on their cell phones. WTF? Can you imagine entering a parking lot with people wandering around in their SUV's playing bumper cars while watching Indiana Jones on their cell phones????

[VaYallaDawg]

18. The newest thing is that kids can record their favorite TV shows

on an iPod and walk around with that as well. Go figure. Looks like consumers today want phones to be cameras and cameras to be phones - WTF. Or maybe it's just the manufacturers are all trying to get into each other's business.

[Seabiscuit]

19. Imagine if the adult entertainment industry got into these iPods and cell

phones - then the manufacturers wouldn't just be trying to get into each other's businesses, they'd all be trying to get into everyone's pants.

Then it wouldn't be safe to drive anywhere. Hell, the resulting carnage might actually have a social benefit - people would stop driving and consuming so much fossil fuel.

[VaYallaDawg]

22. I'm lovin' it!

Can't you just visualize the Metro in DC (subway in NY) filled with commuters in nasty raincoats glued to their iPorns!!!!!

[Seabiscuit]

24. iPorn!! LOL!!! You should copyrite that immediately!

Gawd, what an image!

[ghostsofgiants]

79. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podnography
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/11/DDGIHE5CTJ1.DTL&type=tech

And iPod phot/iPod video means it'll definitely get bigger (umm, no pun intended).

[seemunkee]

56. Too late

Some of the PDA phones will do all easily. With a chip you can have 1GB of video files.

[Seabiscuit]

62. You mean people can actually download their porn videos onto that

kind of phone?

That could really become dangerous if it catches on. :yoiks:

[alarimer]

27. I don't even know how to use the text messaging

on my phone. I think it has it but I am not sure.

[Seabiscuit]

32. I made sure to get one that didn't have it. I wouldn't use it even if

all models had it, and I definitely don't want to ever learn how to use it.

I've got better things to do with my time. If I want to talk to someone I prefer doing it in person. I even spend as little time as possible on the phone.

[jayctravis]

41. Movies are a cool thing...but I know lots of people who

get sports scores "pushed" to their phones as text so they can know the results of a game they can't watch. Same with stocks, I've heard you can set it up so it informs you if it's reached a certain threshhold.

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. Where it's too noisy to talk

like at a million-strong Sox World Series celebration parade. Text message to husband: "I'm at Monroe on lamppost."

[Ladyhawk]

13. I hate talking with my mother on the phone. A quick text message is

much less stressful. :)

[Seabiscuit]

37. When I've had relatives I didn't like talking to I found that

sending a short note by snail mail or simply ignoring them and not talking at all was quite effective.

[Robeson]

77. That is the best explanation and reason I've heard for using it.....

...thanks for giving me some ideas....:thumbsup:

[City Lights]

15. My soon-to-be ex uses it to communicate discretely with his mistress.

He's 42 going on 10.

Edited for grammar.

[tjdee]

16. Holy god I HATE text messaging.

I try to type a sentence, and then I'm like, ugh, fuck this, and I call whoever it is.

Even if you're just typing "hi", um....do you HAVE to ALWAYS be in contact with people? You think "hi" and simply MUST tell them that RIGHT NOW?

And typing more than hi? On the little teeny phone where you have to press 2 three times to get to C? WTF is that about?

[Dastard Stepchild]

20. If I want to communicate but want privacy....

Like on the bus or the train. If I want to say something, but not aloud, then texting works wonders. Of course I could just wait until I was in a more appropriate place and then call, but I loves me some instant gratification. Plus, it passes the time on a boring bus or train commute.

[Seabiscuit]

23. I suppose it saves time if...

you have a super-fast index finger

and a super-slow tongue.

But that's not very sexy, now, is it?

:0)~

[newportdadde]

25. Its sole purpose is to help highschool and college teens cheat?

:shrug:

[NV Whino]

28. I experience one good use of TMs

My mother had a caretaker down in LA who was at her house 5 days a week. She kept in touch with her kids and husband with TMs without chatting on the phone all the time and disturbing my mother.

Other than that, I personally hate test messaging. I get them once in a while and go crazy trying to get the damned message, thinking it's a voice message. Then I go balistic when I find it's from the cell phone company selling another service.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. It's really taken hold in Japan, where everybody who's old enough to walk

seems to have a cell phone.

People aren't allowed to make voice calls on trains or subway cars, so younger people (it seems to be the under-thirty generation, and especially the teen-agers) sit there text messaging like crazy. You wonder why they feel compelled to keep in constant communication with people off the train. Not so long ago, they would have been content to read a book or even a manga.

Some middle-aged Japanese friends of mine told of going to someone's house for dinner where the twelve-year-old was text messaging all through dinner. The parents had this "We're helpless to stop it" attitude that is the hallmark of bad parenting, as if they were afraid that the kid would kill them if they said, "No cell phones at the dinner table."

[Seabiscuit]

36. Call me old fashioned, but I find that utterly appalling.

It's Revenge of the Nerds Part IV. The geeks designing these gadgets are laughing at the addicts they've created all the way to the bank, even more so than they did with video game arcades.

[SOteric]

30. Heh. I get it completely.

When I'm at work (a major corporation with professional expectations) and in my power suit, it's one thing to get a racy, or steamy, or overwhelmingly romantic text message that puts a Mona Lisa smile on my face. It's another thing to get that as a phone call that leaves one blushing, gasping for breath and giggling into the phone whilst looking for hard to decipher code words that basically mean 'Golly sweetheart, you really send me, too.'

[Seabiscuit]

34. As a lawyer, the last thing I want to happen when I'm conducting a

deposition is for someone to call me on a cellphone, or worse, to send romantic or "steamy" text messages.

Can't you put your toys away while at work? How do you ever get anything done?

If I want a break from work and a little romantic communication, coffee breaks/lunch hours offer more than adequate time to talk on a land-line phone. If I want romantic talk, I want to hear the voice of the person I'm talking to. I can't imagine seeing a brief text message on a tiny cell phone screen as being very romantic.

Call me an old fogey, I just don't get it any more than I get the "need" for driving a Hummer, or worse, talking on a cell-phone in a parking lot while driving a Hummer.

[DS1]

39. Well, aren't you special

:eyes:

[SOteric]

42. Ah. You're a lawyer.

That explains much regarding your communication style.

:hi:

[DS1]

46. Shut up and get back in your Hummer

:eyes:


;-) :hi:

[Seabiscuit]

49. Oops. Guess I'm "busted". Drat!

[jayctravis]

44. Text is just like a normal call, you set it to silent and you don't HAVE

to look at it till convienient. The text message stays on the phone till you can look at it.

[Seabiscuit]

48. Oh. Nevew mind. :0)

Just call me Rosanne Rosanadanna

[Orsino]

31. 'Cause I don't want to carry two devices.

When the little two-way pagers my wife and I carried died, I really, really wanted an all-in-one QWERTY keyboard and cell phone. Such things were still too big a year ago and more. I'm about to go to a Treo, though, which seems to be a manageable size.

I dislike texting on a numerical keypad, too.

[jayctravis]

45. I just saw a picture of a really cool phone where the back swivels

to horizontal, giving you a qwerty keyboard that sticks out from each side of the phone (each half of the keyboard accessible by either thumb)...

http://www.cnet.com/4520-11456_1-6361079-14.html?tag=more

[Taverner]

35. Three words: talking in class

Students of the high school and college variety can communicate with friends while in lectures or classes.

[Chovexani]

43. Must be hard for you to sit down

What with that stick. :eyes: Seriously, I think you need to unclench a little. Just because you find no use for it, doesn't mean it's inherently worthless. Nothing pisses me off more than self-righteous people who feel the need to judge other people's choices because they can't understand them.

Oh and before you call some addicted geek, I don't even own a cell phone. Sure there have been times when it could have been useful to have one (trying to meet up with friends in a busy spot), but I don't really need one.

[Seabiscuit]

50. OMG! Now I'm "clenched"???

And stuffed full of self-righteousness?

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

[BikeWriter]

47. A friend with no PC e-mails me from Canada...

from her phone. :)

[Jamastiene]

51. It takes forever to get one single sentence on my cell phone.

My mother kept nagging me to check my messages and answer her until I finally started ignoring her text messages. I got tired of trying to type one single sentence in and spending an hour doing it. Screw that. Life is too short.

[VaYallaDawg]

53. You see, you're one of those over-educated lefties

who probably insists on using correct spelling and all that. I agree, those things have to be meant for people who have waaaaaay too much time on their hands - literally!

[Jamastiene]

54. Yep. Unless a person doesn't mind typing in code and

saying very little, it's a boring, time consuming activity.

[chenGOD]

95. Unlike posting in the DU Lounge right?

Of course it's impossible to type complete sentences on a mobile phone. Why if you can't do it, nobody can!!

[Seabiscuit]

52. I know some of my comments have seemed on the sarcastic side, but

I'm actually learning something - I really had no idea how it worked or why people used it, and I'm discovering there actually are some interesting (in addition to more mundane, as well as inane, IMHO) uses.

[jayctravis]

85. True, there are people who don't use common courtesy...

And some people really should get the cellphone out their ear sometimes.

I am actually a text message convert. I used to think, "Gosh why would I want to send text when I can just call?"

After actually using it, it turns out that it's less intrusive than a phone call and I actually find uses for it in everyday life. It's actually like sending someone a short note instantaneously, and that's often more useful...such as in the case where you're providing a phone number, an arrival time, or directions, that would require a person on a phone to find a piece of paper and pencil to write down.

[merh]

55. They are like text pagers and those are very usesful

I miss mine and really prefer the pager to a cell. You can read the message and chose to respond, you don't have to actually participate to receive a message. They are great for sending love messages - to let the other half of your heart know that you are thinking about them.

[StuckinBFE]

57. My girlfriend recently relocated long distance from me

and in the meantime before I move down there we both got cell phones with TM and Pix options. I had a cell phone before cause I lived along and it made more sence but no TM or Pix options.

For being so far away it has been nice to get cute messages from her during the day when we can't talk or getting funny pictures from her when she is out and about. We may cancel the TM/Pix service once I move down there but it is a nice way to let the other one know what is happening without having to call each other.

I will admit that some people take it over board for the amount of TM they send.

[northzax]

59. I text all the time

and I'm 31. I use to to quickly check in with people "How was the meeting/interview/date/test etc?" people can call me back when they want, but they know I'm thinking of them. I also have lists set up, I can send a quick message to five people asking if anyone wants to get dinner or a drink. They can reply or ignore me as the case may be. frankly, I'd date to be without it now, it's become a key part of how my friends and I communicate. Yes, most is in code and abbreviations, but we know what it means, that's all that matters.

[El Fuego]

60. If you have a friend who will keep you on the phone an hour

because once they start talking they don't stop, it's better to text them!

[Floogeldy]

63. I'm surprised at you.

It's harmless. What do you care?

People are generally free to do what they please as long as they are not hurting anyone else. You know that. Don't we have more important concerns in the world?

:shrug:

[Seabiscuit]

66. I'm really just curious. The sarcastic edge was just a tease to get

attention.

I really knew virtually nothing about the subject until I read some of the posts in this thread.

See my post #52.

[Floogeldy]

68. Sarcastic edge just to get attention?

Hey, stop trying to steal my act. ;)

[Seabiscuit]

69. Well, at least I didn't start another thread about...

Vegans

Smoking

Pit Bulls

Cats

Post a picture of yourself

etc., etc., etc.

[Floogeldy]

71. And for that, I am grateful!

:)

[Seabiscuit]

70. Isn't imitation the greatest form of flattery?

[Rabrrrrrr]

64. What makes me want to include yet one more demographic in my genocide

are the asshole ignorant illiterati shitswine who sit and text message whole conversations in near-real-time.

I use text messages occasionally as one-offs, when I don't want to spend the time calling someone and having to waste time on the pleasantries and run the risk of getting into a long-winded conversation.

But the clueless fat-necked waste of flesh shitheads who sit and text message in real-time, having actual conversations, make me think that no matter how many people I think deserve to die in a fiery, awful, totally apocalyptic genocide of my own creation, the number who need to be genocided is actually higher than even I think it should be.

if you send more than two text messages to the same person in less than ten minutes, FUCKING CALL THEM!!!!!!!!! ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DS1]

78. I think there are pills for your condition

At least, I hope there are :scared:

No, I don't have conversations with people I'm 'texting', but I will send her some quick little notes, "Hiyas!" and other things. nE cnvrstion where Hello and Goodbye is stripped out is always more efficient if it's less than 2 sentences.

[Rabrrrrrr]

89. And you see, those text messages are fine

I send them occasionally, because sometimes it's quicker to just send the information than to make a phone call, where one might be required to inquire about how they are doing, etc.

It's the idjits who sit text messaging the same person for a half hour, to the exclusion of anything else, that pisses me off, since it would have been easier to just call them.

[chenGOD]

96. What about on my 50 minute subway commute?

I don't want to annoy the other passengers with my talking (cause people can be awfully loud on their phones, I'm not, but others can be), but I want to have a conversation with someone. Guess I'm just SOL?

[Rabrrrrrr]

100. Jesus Christ, people are touchy

Obviously, if you're in a situation in which an actual conversation is impossible, then fucking go for it.

Sheesh.

[NMMNG]

65. It's a way to communicate with someone you want to avoid

That way you can say something to them, but not have to deal with a response or "back and forth" with them.

[Seabiscuit]

67. I see. Just text in:

"Fuck you too!"

Is that the idea?

[NMMNG]

72. Text in whatever

I've never used text messaging myself. However I received a TM from a woman who obviously was trying to avoid me (because I wouldn't sleep with her as I'd just met her a mere 24 hours prior). She texted this lame excuse as to why she had missed my calls and left it at that. :eyes:

[lakemonster11]

75. I thought I would never use text messaging on my cell phone,

but I actually use it all the time.

My Dad is the one who got me started. We use it most often in loud situations like concerts and baseball games, where you can't really hear each other over the phone.

For example, we were at a music festival a couple of weeks ago. There were multiple concerts going on all of the time and we all had our own bands that we wanted to see. If we didn't have text messaging, we would never have been able to find each other in the crowds---it was just too loud to hear anything over the phone. As it was, we could text each other something like "stadium row 8 seat 14." It made it really stress-free.

I also use it if I want to say something really basic like "I'm staying in town tonight"---I don't have to ask to use someone's computer for an email and I don't have to worry about waking my parents up at 2:30 in the morning by calling them. Plus, since this is something I would say often, I can save it and send it again without pressing too many buttons.

My best friend and I use text messaging to remind each other about a planned event or to make sure that the other is coming to a weekly outing. One of us will text the other and say, "Trivia tomorrow?" or "Karaoke tonight?" The other can just text back "yes" or "no." We don't have to mess with leaving and checking voice messages or trying to catch the other when they're not busy.

[Solon]

76. I don't get it either...

actually, I don't get cell phones in general, I mean, for emergencies, they are great, like car breaking down, etc. But beyond that they are an annoyance, I'm not even an old fart and I think that, I'm 27, and I don't have a cell phone, I used to, but it was a pain in the ass. Now, my sister and her fiancee, both 6 years younger than me, have cell phones, and only use them for emergencies. Then again, none of us are really yappers on a regular phone, why should we be on a cell phone. My sister even has a rule that when in the car, the phone is not going to EVER be answered, if she has to answer it, she'll pull over in the nearest parking lot/exit/etc. then answer it. I view that as a safe use for cell phones in the car.

[Seabiscuit]

99. The only time I use a cell phone in a car is when I'm parked and not about

to move until I'm done with the call.

Even so, I find it extremely rare that I ever use a cell phone in a car. Maybe once or twice a year at most.

I once tried talking on a cell phone while driving and it was a really scary experience. It really interfered not only with my mental concentration but my physical abilility to control the steering wheel. I'll never try that again.

[lovelaureng]

80. The scary part is

that a lot of people do use text-messaging their cell phones. I am talking about adults, not just the kids these days.

[Reverend_Smitty]

88. Its great when you are at a bar or someplace loud

I've met up with many friends that way because it would be impossible to hear them if you called on the cell

[Scooter24]

90. I send about 400+ a month...

but it depends on where I'm at and what I'm doing that determines if I should send one.

If I'm in a meeting or on another call, I will text a short message like "will call in a few min" or "busy, will call later"

Or I might be out to dinner or lunch, and will have the phone on vibrate, so I'll send a message like "eating lunch, call me in 20" or "out to dinner, will call when I finish"

If I'm in a noisy spot, then sometimes a quick message to get across what I need it the best way.

It just depends on the situation. I however can speed-type using a cell phone keypad and the phone's intelligent mode. I can usually write a short paragraph and have it sent in about a minute.

[0007]

92. How many did the real scooter send?

[jmm]

93. Don't sugar coat, tell us how you really feel.

Some of us are evolved enough that it doesn't take hours to type out a message. I'll often send them if I'm in a bad reception area. On most phones if you send a text message in an area with no reception then as soon as you get to a better area it will automatically send it out for you. It's less of a hassle than repeatedly trying to call someone only to let them know you're running ten minutes late. I also like to send text messages if I want to give the same message to a number of people.

Oh yeah my cell phone will spell check and translate English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese so I guess not everybody WANTS THEYRE MASAEGS 2 LOK LIEK THIS11!1! WTF LOL

[Kellanved]

94. It has many advantages

And the only major downside is that you need opposable thumbs to use it.

a) It is cheap.
b) It is less intrusive than a call (the recipient doesn't have to stop any conversation/work/...)
c) It reaches the recipient, even when her/his phone is turned off
d) It is more convenient than voicemail
e) It is far more convenient to receive addresses/ appointments/ phone numbers this way.
f) Great training for the thumb
...

[In_The_Wind]

101. Okay - here goes ...

text messages often go through when cell phone calls fail ...