Texting

The Triumph of Texting

Texting is as flexible as email, as immediate as a call, and as close as the computer in your pocket. Those features make it popular worldwide.

In the developing world, however, texting (Short Message Service, or SMS) plays an additional role as an “alternate internet.” Three billion largely poor or rural users depend on SMS to transfer money, find jobs, connect to social networks, and more.

Impact

The Triumph of Texting

M-Pesa agent in Nairobi, Kenya, 2012

Benedicte Desrus/Sipa USA

M-Pesa agent in Nairobi, Kenya, 2012

The texting-based payment service M-Pesa is used by most Kenyans, for everything from buying dinner to paying salaries. Started by Nick Hughes at Vodafone, M-Pesa was launched in 2007 by Vodafone’s Kenyan subsidiary, Safaricom.

Mobile phone antenna disguised as a tree, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Mobile phone antenna disguised as a tree, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya

Beyond LOL

Look past the stereotype of frivolous teenage gossip. You’ll see a powerful and essential technology used for everything from banking to shopping, from writing novels to voting.

More than 4.5 billion people have access to Short Message Service (SMS), thanks to the availability of cell phones and the extraordinary expansion of cell towers, one of history’s largest infrastructure projects. Billions in the developing world who never had telephones, or even reliable mail, are now connected 24/7.

Kenyan Farmer checking corn prices via SMS, 2005

Antony Njuguna/Reuters

Kenyan Farmer checking corn prices via SMS, 2005

Over the 2000s, mobile phones exploded from 500 million to over four billion users worldwide. In the developing world, people in previously isolated rural areas were now connected 24/7—whether to post a job or text a friend.

Texting Software Makers and Users Poster

Texting Software Makers and Users

NTT Docomo P-06C cell phone, 2011Japanese cell phone novel, 2011
Manga edition of cell phone novel, 2015

NTT Docomo P-06C cell phone, 2011Japanese cell phone novel, 2011 Manga edition of cell phone novel, 2015

A Technology You Can Bank On

A billion and a half people in the developing world have phones but no bank account. Banking by text can provide a financial lifeline.

More than 25 percent of Kenya’s GDP (the value of all its goods and services) now passes through M-PESA, a text-based payment service that doesn’t even require a sophisticated smartphone.

Safaricom’s M-Pesa service agent in Nairobi, Kenya, August 17, 2015

Image courtesy of Vodafone Group

Safaricom’s M-Pesa service agent in Nairobi, Kenya, August 17, 2015

M-Pesa users can deposit or withdraw money at any of the 40,000 M-Pesa agents nationwide. They verify their identity with a national ID card or passport.

Safaricom M-Pesa screen on a mobile phone

Courtesy of Marc Weber

Safaricom M-Pesa screen on a mobile phone

M-Pesa’s simple menus are self-explanatory. Built on an interactive form of texting (SMS Toolkit), the application is pre-loaded on every Safaricom SIM card (the little chip that goes in most phones).

George Sekut, Maasai tribesman, Masai Mara, Kenya

George Sekut, Maasai tribesman, Masai Mara, Kenya

George Sekut Video Poster

George Sekut, Maasai Tribesman, Masai Mara, Kenya and M-Pesa

Modern Maasai throwing clubNokia C2-01 mobile phone

Modern Maasai throwing clubNokia C2-01 mobile phone

Getting the Message Out

Texting spreads news fast and efficiently. Emergency services use it for tornado warnings, while “citizen reporters” text eyewitness reports—as during the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.

It’s also an inexpensive organizing tool. In 2001, texting helped topple an unpopular Philippines regime. Yet during Kenya’s disputed 2008 election, people used texts to incite violence.

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, 2011

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, 2011

In January 2011, hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrated against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Protesters used SMS text messages and photos sent via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to organize rallies and distribute breaking news.

Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 22, 2016

Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 22, 2016

NCMEC co-founder John Walsh, Washington, DC, July 12, 2004

NCMEC co-founder John Walsh, Washington, DC, July 12, 2004

Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

Tiny phone keyboards spawned a new way to type.

People long derided thumb typing, but it has become a discreet medium in meetings and classrooms. It’s easy to do one-handed while eating, walking...even on the toilet.

Being in constant touch connects us to a larger community. Yet it can also distract from being fully present in our own lives.

“Blind” texting in classroom

Photo by Markus Moellenberg via Getty Images

“Blind” texting in classroom

For many teens, “blind” texting is a badge of honor. Over 40 percent of teenagers claim they can text without looking at their phones, even while talking to parents or teachers!

National Texting Champion Kate Moore, 15, New York, June 16, 2009

REUTERS/Eric Thayer (United States Entertainment)

National Texting Champion Kate Moore, 15, New York, June 16, 2009

Kate Moore texted her way to victory, winning a grand prize of $50,000 at the 2009 LG National Texting Championship. Competitors participated in texting challenges that tested speed, dexterity, and accuracy, including knowledge of acronyms.

Text walking lane, Antwerp, Belgium, June 12, 2015

Mlab/REX/Shutterstock

Text walking lane, Antwerp, Belgium, June 12, 2015

Due to the number of collisions attributed to “textwalking,” the city of Antwerp took action and introduced designated lanes for texting and walking.

Massachusetts Turnpike, Boston, September 24, 2010

Massachusetts Turnpike, Boston, September 24, 2010

Motorola cellular phone, early 1990s

Motorola cellular phone, early 1990s

Blackberry 7230, 2003

Blackberry 7230, 2003

T-Mobile myTouch 875T, keyboard slide phone, ca. 2010

T-Mobile myTouch 875T, keyboard slide phone, ca. 2010

The End of Spelling?

BRB. OMG. HMU. Not quite Shakespearean, perhaps. But is it OK to abbrevi8?

Languages evolve in response to new technologies. Telegraphy’s terse “SOS” became a universal cry for help. Texting has spread LOL for “laugh out loud”.

Is texting’s brevity bastardizing language? Or just high-tech haiku?

Courtesy of Marc Weber/Translation via Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Message in Arabic Chat Alphabet, “How are you doing with your studies?” or in Arabic letters: كيف داير في القراية؟

Early phones supported only the Latin alphabet. So, speakers of non-Latin languages, like Arabic, got creative by mixing numbers and Latin letters. Languages using Chinese characters can express some phrases in numbers, like the Cantonese “02825” for “Do you love me or not?”

<em>The Adams Cable Codex</em>, 1896
102750914

The Adams Cable Codex, 1896

Telegrams were expensive, and paid by the word. With codebooks, you could send a whole phrase for the price of a word.
Western Union telegram, April 28, 1931

Western Union telegram, April 28, 1931

Western Union <em>Telegrammar</em>, 1948<em>Texting Manual 4 Every1</em>, 2012

Western Union Telegrammar, 1948Texting Manual 4 Every1, 2012

Technology

Instant, But Not Simultaneous

Phone calls connect people in real time…but only if the signal is strong and the person answers. Texting offers similar immediacy—with added reliability.

Texts can arrive almost instantly. But when connections are bad or the recipient’s phone is off, they texts “wait” on a server until they can be reliably delivered. Texts also tend to get noticed, not lost in the noise like email. Both factors fueled texting’s popularity.

How SMS works

How SMS works

What happens when you text a friend? Mostly, your message follows the same route as a voice call. The main difference is that it also goes through a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), where it is held if your friend’s phone is offline.

Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Slovenia, 2006

Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Slovenia, 2006

Why Just 160 Characters?

Texting takes advantage of a narrow signaling channel that the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) phone networks use to coordinate various components.

The channel’s limited capacity kept Short Message Service (SMS) to 160 characters. But it brought the advantage of using bandwidth not otherwise in demand. So companies could add SMS without jeopardizing their core services and cutting into the main data or voice channels.

GSM meeting endorsing SMS proposal, Oslo, Norway, 1985

Courtesy of Friedhelm Hillebrand

GSM meeting endorsing SMS proposal, Oslo, Norway, 1985

The project to agree on a Europe-wide digital mobile phone standard, GSM, involved telephone companies from around Europe meeting over a number of years. The SMS working group was one small part of that gigantic effort.

Software development package for creating SMS-based “apps,” 2011

Courtesy of Peter Edsbäcker

Software development package for creating SMS-based “apps,” 2011

SMS Toolkit is a part of the GSM standard that lets telephone companies offer simple programs that run from a mobile phone’s SIM card, like payment app M-Pesa or job listings service Babajob.

SMS short code ad

Credit: The Voice/Facebook

SMS short code ad

SMS “short codes” are abbreviated telephone numbers to which people can text specific kinds of information, like a vote for a singer, a query about a product on a billboard, or a charitable donation.

Tweet from President Obama <em>Four more years,</em> November 6, 2012. Credit: Barack Obama/Twitter

Tweet from President Obama Four more years, November 6, 2012. Credit: Barack Obama/Twitter

Sanyo C401SA cellular telephone, ca. 2000

Sanyo C401SA cellular telephone, ca. 2000

Nokia 2110 NHE-4NX, 1994

Nokia 2110 NHE-4NX, 1994

Motorola cellular phone, early 1990s

Motorola cellular phone, early 1990s

How Dumb is Your Phone?

Smartphones, such as iPhones or Android, offer email and full Web web access. “Dumbphones,” which preceded them, use texting instead of email, and offer services over the phone company’s private network rather than the open internet.

Internet-enabled smartphones are gradually replacing dumbphones. Yet both can text, leaving Short Message Service (SMS) the only universal mobile message medium.

WhatsApp group messaging in Italian

Courtesy of Raffaella Buschiazzo

WhatsApp group messaging in Italian

Free internet messaging services like WhatsApp and WeChat are cutting into texting revenues. But they’re less accessible than SMS—users need to have a smartphone, download an app, and set up an account.

Dumbphone (left) versus smartphone (right)

Dumbphone (left) versus smartphone (right)

History

Underestimating Simplicity

Cell phones were developed as telephones. Developers expected customers mostly to talk, though some might use the phones as mobile computer modems.

A few farsighted engineers managed to get texting included in the general the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard for digital mobile phones. They succeeded in part because it didn’t use extra bandwidth. Carriers conceded that texting might be mildly useful for sending announcements to customers.

<strong>Left</strong>-Kevin Holley <strong>Middle</strong>-Friedhelm Hillebrand <strong>Right</strong>-Finn Trosby
Courtesy of Kevin Holley

Left-Kevin Holley Middle-Friedhelm Hillebrand Right-Finn Trosby

Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert (not pictured) set the basic standard for SMS as part of the early Franco–German GSM delegation. Finn Trosby, Kevin Holley, and Ian Harris (not pictured) turned their requirements into a specific technical solution.
GSM mobile phone, functional prototype, late 1980s

Photo: Begenisic, Nedeljko/Tekniska museet/Courtesy of the Digitalt Museum

GSM mobile phone, functional prototype, late 1980s

Ericsson’s radio division built this laboratory test system for the emerging GSM standard. Pictured is the telephone portion. The base station it connected to was also prototyped in a similar fashion.

Friedhelm Hillebrand Video Poster

Friedhelm Hillebrand, SMS Pioneer, Deutsche Telekom

Ericsson PT680 NMT cell phone, Sweden, mid-1980s

Ericsson PT680 NMT cell phone, Sweden, mid-1980s

Ericsson NH97 NMT cell phone, Sweden, early 1990s

Ericsson NH97 NMT cell phone, Sweden, early 1990s

An Accidental Medium?

Texting between customers started out free. Telephone companies didn’t envision it as a popular product.

Young people in Scandinavia and elsewhere were probably were first to text as an alternative to costly calling. Since companies didn’t track texting, early adopters are hard to document. Once texting became popular, fees followed.

Left: Photo by Tony Lewis/Getty Image Right: Courtesy of Babajob.com

Left-Students from Soini Comprehensive School, Finland, December 20, 2002 Right-Babajob employment service, 2009

Texting first got popular for uses like casual messaging among Scandinavian teenagers. Later it took on roles as critical as powering India’s Babajob, with over 5.5 million job listings accessible by Short Message Service (SMS), voice, or the web.

An Alternate Business Model

Texting’s low hardware cost (even the cheapest phones can text) propelled its growth. Today, texting is big business, generating $115 billion globally in 2014.

Unlike the internet’s ad-driven business model, texting follows the traditional telephone industry approach: fee for service. As smartphones spread, bringing full internet connectivity, which model will prevail?

SMS traffic projection, 2013

Credit: Exotel Techcom Pvt. Ltd.

SMS traffic projection, 2013

Since the mid-1990s, SMS text messaging has grown from a local service on a few national networks to well over four billion users sending more than eight trillion messages—a majority of all people alive.

Promotional “warning” of high text message usage, 2016

Courtesy of Marc Weber

Promotional “warning” of high text message usage, 2016

Texting may have started off free but has become a big business. This courteous “warning” is encouraging the customer to sign up for a monthly text messaging plan.

Shepherd with mobile phone and solar-charging panel, Sanliurfa, Turkey, April 25, 2016

Shepherd with mobile phone and solar-charging panel, Sanliurfa, Turkey, April 25, 2016

Carlos Slim, World Mayors' Summit on Climate, Mexico City, Mexico, November 21, 2010

Carlos Slim, World Mayors' Summit on Climate, Mexico City, Mexico, November 21, 2010