Why Do People Still Text
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@Dashrender said:
I love the idea - having a conversation with my boss that's all saved to email but done through an IM client would be awesome!
We were doing this with Zimbra around 2007.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
By free I assume you mean the use of someone else's wifi connection, not a cellular data connection.
I've listed this caveat before. And I totally understand that it is apples or oranges. BUT.... with convergence you have to assume that you will, one way or another, attempt to have Internet access. That might be a horribly wrong assumption, but that is the assumption. That by going to a single universal platform you eliminate the need to get many platforms AND the platform is vendorless and generic. So I can use any Internet, anywhere to get what I need. I can borrow someone's phone, computer or wifi... all will let me retrieve my email. The email itself costs nothing, the platform is universal and equitable.
With an SMS I cannot do that (unless I hijack it to non-SMS like Apple and Google are doing - which is an attempt to reconverge a non-convergent technology.) If a message goes to SMS and my phone is gone, destroyed, number changed, out of service, etc. that's it. I can't switch to another medium to get that message. I can't borrow something to get to it. I am carrier dependent, service dependent, number dependent and device dependent.
Sure, but you are with a phone call as well. But from a purely messaging standpoint I see what you're getting at. The question is, does it matter? Like the phone call I'm guessing most people don't believe that a text message will be saved by the receiver for very long, or in general used as an archive (mainly for the reasons you've mentioned already), so it's not like the average user worries about losing their SMS messages, they are probably much more concerned about the lost photos.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
really? if those people are sending things only via text to you, perhaps that's because a) they never use email or b)
Except for the teens, they all had email and switched off of it because it "wasn't cool" or whatever. I've actually been told "wasn't cool" as a reason before.
Email clients, especially on phones, haven't been great - changes in view to conversation mode definitely improved things greatly - replying and reading responses look more like SMS messages and flow better, but that's what 2-3 years old at best?
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
By free I assume you mean the use of someone else's wifi connection, not a cellular data connection.
I've listed this caveat before. And I totally understand that it is apples or oranges. BUT.... with convergence you have to assume that you will, one way or another, attempt to have Internet access. That might be a horribly wrong assumption, but that is the assumption. That by going to a single universal platform you eliminate the need to get many platforms AND the platform is vendorless and generic. So I can use any Internet, anywhere to get what I need. I can borrow someone's phone, computer or wifi... all will let me retrieve my email. The email itself costs nothing, the platform is universal and equitable.
With an SMS I cannot do that (unless I hijack it to non-SMS like Apple and Google are doing - which is an attempt to reconverge a non-convergent technology.) If a message goes to SMS and my phone is gone, destroyed, number changed, out of service, etc. that's it. I can't switch to another medium to get that message. I can't borrow something to get to it. I am carrier dependent, service dependent, number dependent and device dependent.
Sure, but you are with a phone call as well. But from a purely messaging standpoint I see what you're getting at. The question is, does it matter? Like the phone call I'm guessing most people don't believe that a text message will be saved by the receiver for very long, or in general used as an archive (mainly for the reasons you've mentioned already), so it's not like the average user worries about losing their SMS messages, they are probably much more concerned about the lost photos.
Oh that's a different concern, not what I meant. I mean if I'm sending critical info to someone's SMS, they might never get it. It's ephemeral. Only for things that are transient. Like what if there was a big emergency and you needed to fly to California to deal with it. But your phone was broken when that happened. No matter what, you are going to be delayed in getting that message. But if it was an email you can always just go find a way to get the message. If it is SMS, you might never get it but the sending think that you did.
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@Dashrender said:
Email clients, especially on phones, haven't been great - changes in view to conversation mode definitely improved things greatly - replying and reading responses look more like SMS messages and flow better, but that's what 2-3 years old at best?
I've had that since 2006. Blackberrys had that long before I was using it. Email was effectively instant and worked as easy as texting does today. I went to a Motorola Q in 2007, worked like that too.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@MattSpeller said:
Everyone who drives a car should drive a fuel efficient, small, built for A to B car. I feel like that's the argument you're in here.
This is not a comparison. The issue is that when you text people you do it to other people. If this was about HOW you read your communications it would not matter. It is about how you force others to communicate.
If you email them, are you not forcing them to use email to communicate with them?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Assuming you have a mobile phone with them. 400 Mb a month?
My father does not. I'm not aware of that being a limitation.
really? So I can go to a t-Mobile store and buy an Android tablet from them ( I assume I must at least do that) that is cellular enabled, and I can get free 400 MB a month wireless data? Damn I'm going to have to look into that.
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@Dashrender said:
If you email them, are you not forcing them to use email to communicate with them?
That's completely valid. Except that having email is optional. My text is not. I got texts on an account that I didn't even know how it and I was charged for it. I'm sure this happened to tons of people when texting became suddenly in vogue. Nearly everyone has phones, people just started texting even knowing that almost no one had free texts originally. The text functionality was turned on sometimes without people even being told or could not be disabled.
So only sort of. They obviously can and do opt not to have email. It isn't tied to some other service. But text you can force onto a device that they have for another purpose.
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@Dashrender said:
really? So I can go to a t-Mobile store and buy an Android tablet from them ( I assume I must at least do that) that is cellular enabled, and I can get free 400 MB a month wireless data? Damn I'm going to have to look into that.
I think so. We got my dad an iPad from TMobile and have the 400MB/month plan for free. It's perfect for him and works in his house where his SMS isn't reliable. Helps him contact us when traveling because of the ways that I described how email keeps trying when SMS does not.
Now maybe I'm wrong and he might be associated with our TMobile plans so that he gets it for free. But they list the service for free and we got it for him with that assumption. It's not a free add on to our plan. It's a plan of its own.
Might be iPad only, but I assume Android counts too.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller While I agree that yes, everything could be sent by email, is there no room for another option?
Everyone who drives a car should drive a fuel efficient, small, built for A to B car. I feel like that's the argument you're in here.
I have a Big truck
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@Dashrender said:
really? So I can go to a t-Mobile store and buy an Android tablet from them ( I assume I must at least do that) that is cellular enabled, and I can get free 400 MB a month wireless data? Damn I'm going to have to look into that.
Chances are once you do that you'll realize how good the TMobile plan is and switch to them. Which is the point of the freebie service
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Though I really do like IM way better than texting too - for all the reasons Scott has mentioned before - the draw back of course is you must be online to use it, where some phones will hold a text message until you get back in range, others won't.
I assume that that is a carrier thing? All phones hold texts, I hope, once they have received them.
I mean when trying to send - I've had some phones that will hold the outgoing text until it makes a connection to the cellular network, I've had others the just reject you if offline and won't retry (though they give you an option to return most of the time).
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Though I really do like IM way better than texting too - for all the reasons Scott has mentioned before - the draw back of course is you must be online to use it, where some phones will hold a text message until you get back in range, others won't.
I assume that that is a carrier thing? All phones hold texts, I hope, once they have received them.
I mean when trying to send - I've had some phones that will hold the outgoing text until it makes a connection to the cellular network, I've had others the just reject you if offline and won't retry (though they give you an option to return most of the time).
OH! Okay, I've not seen that. Seems logical that that should be an option.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@MattSpeller said:
So how is switching to email any different? Nothing says you can't reply to a text with an email, or vice versa. Do you feel penned in by texting?
If I receive texts that are not alerts, I must either block people or lose my alerting capabilities. It's the reception that causes the problem.
So because you have a crappy cell carrier no one should text?
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Assuming you have a mobile phone with them. 400 Mb a month?
My father does not. I'm not aware of that being a limitation.
really? So I can go to a t-Mobile store and buy an Android tablet from them ( I assume I must at least do that) that is cellular enabled, and I can get free 400 MB a month wireless data? Damn I'm going to have to look into that.
I just check the deal is 200MB/Month for any eligible tablet you buy from them as long as you also have a cellphone data plan or wifi hotspot with them.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Though I really do like IM way better than texting too - for all the reasons Scott has mentioned before - the draw back of course is you must be online to use it, where some phones will hold a text message until you get back in range, others won't.
I assume that that is a carrier thing? All phones hold texts, I hope, once they have received them.
I mean when trying to send - I've had some phones that will hold the outgoing text until it makes a connection to the cellular network, I've had others the just reject you if offline and won't retry (though they give you an option to return most of the time).
Most anymore wait to send them til they can.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Also, for traveling, texting often requires getting a new number, and therefore a new identity, in different countries. Texting for people outside of the US can require quite a bit of extra management.
I have friend who travel and email and Facebook work but texting is something that they lost. They were texters before, then suddenly everyone had to figure out how to reach them. Texting, I feel, is less consistent especially in times of emergency.
Yes, these people, where you happen to find yourself these days, are the major exception to the texting norm. The US doesn't have this problem as a general rule - you can take your cell phone with you pretty much anywhere in the country, and as long as you can make calls you can get and send text messages.
Yes, if we are assuming a US-centric world, SMS works relatively well. But it always comes with big assumptions like you aren't leaving the country, have reception at home, have reception at work, are allowed to have a phone in those places, your device doesn't break or die, that you always have your device, etc. People using text messaging - how are you not tied to your devices in a way that those just on email are not?
I'm tied to my phone, not because of text messaging, but because it can, wait for it... Ring! The only thing that truly represent something critical is the phone ringing unexpectedly.
If you find yourself in a situation, life style, whatever you want to call it that you can't have a phone, or your phone doesn't work where you live/work, etc... and that is your emergency connection - well I guess you better find another emergency connection method. If I were in that situation, it would not be email. I would I would probably go for a pager if I felt I needed to be able to be gotten a hold of that badly. Otherwise if not, I'd just not worry about it at all, and I'll get the communica when I get it.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Until MS Send came along I would never consider (today) to use email to hold a give and take conversation - it's just the wrong platform. MS Send solves that by making the interface simplier
It doesn't make it easier, it makes it seem easier. You could do this before with other clients. I'm undecided if I actually find it easier than normal mail interface or if it is purely mental.
are you talking about on the phone? OK I'll give you that - mobile apps IM/SMS on the phone vs email on the phone is about the same... but that's definitely not the case on the desktop.
Email is typically a huge client fill most or all of the screen with buttons all over the place. IM on the desktop/laptop is more like what you have on the mobile - often very simple interface.
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@Dashrender said:
I'm tied to my phone, not because of text messaging, but because it can, wait for it... Ring! The only thing that truly represent something critical is the phone ringing unexpectedly.
See I have email for that. I don't answer the phone if I don't have an email explaining why someone would be calling. I know my dad screens his calls. My wife never answers unless it is me or her sister and even then not always.
I get about 90% spam calls. Phone calls are forced interruptions, they should truly be for emergencies.
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@Dashrender said:
Email is typically a huge client fill most or all of the screen with buttons all over the place. IM on the desktop/laptop is more like what you have on the mobile - often very simple interface.
My texting app on my desktop is like that too. Just the nature of things on the desktop. There is space to fill.
