What's with the obsession of texting?

[AMCRambler]

so instead of you actually picking up your phone and calling, you just bitched about it and then wasted your time anyway?

Haha. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's thinking this. You make it sound like you're pissed your time was being wasted, but you couldn't even be bothered to do what you kept telling everyone else to do.

Sorry but you fail.

 

[Anubis]

I don't like calling or texting, but I'll use both as the situation requires. I get pissed at my daughter because she and her idiot friends will send a text without conveying any information. If you have something to say, fuckin' say it. "What's up" isn't a valid message, and you're wasting everybody's time any money with that horseshit :^S

here

 

[Hacp]

Whats with this new texting phenomenon? What happened to good old voice mail?

 

[her209]

Whats with this new texting phenomenon? What happened to good old voice mail?

Retrieving voice mail involves extra steps. For example, you will have to call the voice mail, may possible have to enter the pass code, then wait for the message to queue up. Where as with text, its on the phone already. Just open the message.

 

[Miramonti]

GHI*pqr de def tu pqrs de*t mno*t de wx t.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I find it very ironic that the socially inept people of Anandtech are calling the average young person of today socially inept for texting.

Here's a clue, ATOT: Staying aloof of the current social trends doesn't make you cool.

Agree++

 

[PingSpike]

I never really could understand texting. Its a fucking telephone. Why would I want to thumb out crappy 1996 chatroom shorthand when I'm paying $50 a month for a telephone?

That said, don't do it the god damn movie theater the whole movie and I really don't care. Just don't expect me to not call you instead of replying to the text message because I also don't clap two rocks together to start a fire when I'm holding a lighter.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I never understood texting. It takes me like 20 minutes just to type a sentence, it's SO much easier to just call or email!

 

[Anubis]

I find it very ironic that the socially inept people of Anandtech are calling the average young person of today socially inept for texting.

Here's a clue, ATOT: Staying aloof of the current social trends doesn't make you cool.

theres a difference between texting and obsessive texting, i txt people and i think its fine, but the people who send thousands of txts a month have serious issues

 

[Demo24]

I like texting, but I write in full sentences and if I have something important I just call. I just hate talking on the phone. Texting gives me the option of replying when I want. Nice to just send out a little message that the other person can respond to later.

I don't send that many though, maybe a few hundred a month if it's a busy time. Currently at around 650 sent after a months ownership.

 

[Deeko]

theres a difference between texting and obsessive texting, i txt people and i think its fine, but the people who send thousands of txts a month have serious issues

My send/receive text count last month was 2,045 - do I have serious issues? Most of those texts come during football games, when i'm discussing the live game with several friends around the country. Seems like a pretty efficient way to do it.

I, for one, think texting is a lot more efficient for certain tasks than calling, and I get frustrated when people call me for something a simple text would be better for.

However, I don't have some idiotic elitist notion that one or the other makes someone "socially inept". It has nothing to do with that. Its just the way some people prefer to communicate.

When I was in high school (right around 2000), texting wasn't really the big thing yet. We had a local carrier that almost everyone had. On all of their plans - including prepaid - you got free, unlimited texting. So broke high school kids would buy a $49 prepaid phone, never use the minutes, and just text each other. So that's where the habit started for us. Seems to me we're less socially inept, and more just smarter than everyone else wasting money on minutes.

See how that works?

 

[her209]

theres a difference between texting and obsessive texting, i txt people and i think its fine, but the people who send thousands of txts a month have serious issues

I have to agree. I usually try to reach them via phone call first. If they don't pickup, I send them a text. If I know they might be busy, I'll just text.

 

[Anubis]

My send/receive text count last month was 2,045 - do I have serious issues? Most of those texts come during football games, when i'm discussing the live game with several friends around the country. Seems like a pretty efficient way to do it.

I, for one, think texting is a lot more efficient for certain tasks than calling, and I get frustrated when people call me for something a simple text would be better for.

However, I don't have some idiotic elitist notion that one or the other makes someone "socially inept". It has nothing to do with that. Its just the way some people prefer to communicate.

When I was in high school (right around 2000), texting wasn't really the big thing yet. We had a local carrier that almost everyone had. On all of their plans - including prepaid - you got free, unlimited texting. So broke high school kids would buy a $49 prepaid phone, never use the minutes, and just text each other. So that's where the habit started for us. Seems to me we're less socially inept, and more just smarter than everyone else wasting money on minutes.

See how that works?

yes deeko you have serious issues, everyone knows this

 

[Deeko]

yes deeko you have serious issues, everyone knows this

Oh I have plenty of serious issues, but my amount of text messaging is not among them.

 

[BrownShoes]

I'm big on texting - can't call everyone.
It's also an easy way to keep in touch with some people who I might not speak to all that often.

 

[tokie]

Back a few years ago we would have spoken over MSN or ICQ or something. Now, basically you have MSN Messenger in your pocket in the form of texting. Also, most college people have Blackberries/iPhones/Smartphones so texting is pretty quick.

That is why. You can text multiple people in a conversation, etc whereas on the phone you can only talk to one person. As was said, I can sit on the couch watching TV and text several people simultaneously. Can't do that with a phone call.

 

[Sumguy]

Its useful in college, where people are usually busy or at a place where they can't talk on the phone.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I use a combination of texts and calls. Whatever works best for the moment. I probably average about 5,500 (last bill) texts a month and it used to be 7,000 minutes a month. Now I use Skype as much as possible, so its down to about 400

But either way OP, I agree with what you're saying only in the fact that the best tool wasn't used at the time. However, you're second story was just stupid. You have no reason to bitch if you were too lazy to make a phone call yourself to find out where they were. If you're too lazy to make a phone call and instead waited for someone else to do it for you, then you deserved to be dragged around the mall for 45 minutes.

Well the second story is where some guys go hang out with girls, and we all know how men and women may be at a mall. While the men walk around and check out stores like brookstone and one of my friends goes to get a hat embroidered with an M3 logo, the women are walking around. Some of the men branch off to check out some other stores, while others meet up with the women who are ready to go. In order to find the rest of the men, the girls use text messaging to take care of things. It's a long story but in the end it's a large group of people and there are friends of friends. I didn't exactly know the group that branched off, so it's not in my place to call and go "Hey, where you at, let's meet here and go." That's why I suggested to their friends to do so, but you know how women are. Waiting around = more shopping/lounging/browsing time. I'd rather not be the jerk that says lets GTFO already because I'm getting jumpy to gamble more in Vegas. It's a problem with all large groups in that there's always people who want to get on with things already and people who take it slow.

But the bottom line is that I don't mind texting overall. Sometimes I use it as a short message to let my friends know what's up and stuff, but in the end we use a phone call. For example, we usually text at work if we want to grab dinner at night. But when it comes down to deciding location that involves discussion because different people come from different workplaces, it's much faster to call, and we just do so.

I just have an issue with people sticking to texts and just spending 20-30 minutes to get a message through when a 2 minute phone conversation could've answered all the questions.

 

[maziwanka]

point is sometimes you dont want to call or actually talk. texting has its use for sure.

alternatively, think about being at a bar/lounge/club and how much more useful a text is over calling or voicemail.

what i can't understand is overusing texting or cryptic texts (with weird new lingo). haha

 

[murphy55d]

I always text when I don't need an answer right away, or when I know someone is at work and can't answer. if I need something immediately I will call, or its more involved than a few sentences.

 

[nick1985]

Lot of old farts in this thread.

 

[ShawnD1]

I never understood texting. It takes me like 20 minutes just to type a sentence, it's SO much easier to just call or email!

Maybe you just suck at using a phone.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Im up to 2 texts a month. Im thinking about upgrading my plan to the 5 free texts package.

 

[SunnyD]

Hell, I hate texting, but at the same time I hate cell phones and phones in general. I also hate people... but that's another story.

 

[nerp]

Oh I have plenty of serious issues, but my amount of text messaging is not among them.

I dunno. I personally think it's kind of weird to imagine myself texting my buddies constantly during a football game.