I recently read an interesting article on texting in The New Yorker that basically explained how texting was a giant leap back in communication: "...a huge amount of trouble relative to the results." I couldn't agree more. This explains why I don't text. I'm no good at the multiple keystrokes it takes to create one character on the tiny buttons on my phone, and I hate what texting has done to the English language. I don't like words that look like an acronym and a simple math equation collided (GR8T). And are we now so lazy that typing that one extra keystroke isn't worth the reward of a correctly-spelled word?
Some coworkers and I have had this conversation several times. Why text when it is so much easier to call? (The only reasonable answer seems to be that you're someplace where it would be extremely rude to pick up the phone and talk out loud.)
Another phenomena that I don't understand is the desire to have a phone that does everything, but is no larger than an a square of chocolate. This article made the same point:"...although cell phones keep getting smaller, thumbs do not."
The article goes on to provide some interesting explanations as to why people love to text, but the conclusion basically says that texting is a fad, and when the numeric keyboard is replaced by the QWERTY keyboard (by the way, "QWERTY" is my new favorite word) on most handheld devices, we'll probably see the return to e-mail. My plan: stick with corresponding via e-mail and consider myself ahead of the technology curve.
3 comments:
really true!!
Hi Joanne!
So I prefer to text over phone calls, because it's functional. I want to have conversations in person, and information in short bursts ("where are you?" "on my way home - be there in 20"). It's also asynchronous; I don't expect an immediate response. Same goes for email, but email seems to require more thought and therefore it takes longer to respond.
But I do agree with you that the abbreviations and deliberate mis-spellings have to go.
Only the very basic phones these days require multiple keystrokes. My Blackberry and Erik's phone (whatever that is) basically type for you and are oh-so-helpful when it comes to guessing what you are about to type and filling in the rest of the word. For example, it frequently substitues "are" when I want to type "see," which has caused me to send too many texts that say, "What are you going to are tonight?" and "Let's are about that later, shall we?"
And my favorite: "u'm" for "I'm." (I didn't even know that "u'm" was a word.)
Wait...I'm making a case for texting. Sorry.
I love texting. It let's me communicate quickly and briefly with a variety of people. It can be intimate or it can be distant. I am a texting addict. Love it! And I never do those stupid abbreviations. Call me old skool.
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