Poll: Do U Text?

[Buckeye]

It is actually a simple, quick and unobtrusive way to reach people. Less obtrusive than phoning and quicker, generally, than email.

+1

 

[MichaelB]

Texting is convenient for reaching the kids since they use it all the time. I rarely text anyone over 40. It is actually a simple, quick and unobtrusive way to reach people. Less obtrusive than phoning and quicker, generally, than email.

+2

The phone is also portable. Texting is an easy way to keep in touch when you only have a few minutes and are away from the computer.

 

[Meadbh]

Texting is not my principal method of written communication; that place goes to email. (Did you know that email is now a word on Scrabble?) I regularly text one friend who is 62 and one w*rk colleague in her 50s. I also get text reminders that my Visa bill is ready, which reminds me to log in and set up the payment.

I prefer written communication over phone calls because it can be answered offline when you have had a chance to choose your response. Phone calls can be very disruptive when doing urgent activities. I am a stickler for good grammar and spelling so I am not a rapid texter, and I never texted at all until I got a smartphone with a proper keyboard. I could never deal with the conversion of numbers to letters!

Texting can be really cost effective when you want to communicate quickly with someone abroad about a simple question.

 

[Midpack]

Presumably a narrower range and a higher mean than the general population no? I don't think Gen X or especially Gen Y are well represented here.

You think "boomers" are the only generation represented here? Seems to me there are 4 generations that contribute regularly.

2000/2001-Present - New Silent Generation or Generation Z
*1980-2000 - Millennials or Generation Y
*1965-1979 - Generation X
*1946-1964 - Baby Boom
*1925-1945 - Silent Generation
1900-1924 - G.I. Generation

You'll have to show me where I said "boomers are the only generation represented here"...

 

[scrabbler1]

Texting is not my principal method of written communication; that place goes to email. (Did you know that email is now a word on Scrabble?) I regularly text one friend who is 62 and one w*rk colleague in her 50s. I also get text reminders that my Visa bill is ready, which reminds me to log in and set up the payment.

I prefer written communication over phone calls because it can be answered offline when you have had a chance to choose your response. Phone calls can be very disruptive when doing urgent activities. I am a stickler for good grammar and spelling so I am not a rapid texter, and I never texted at all until I got a smartphone with a proper keyboard. I could never deal with the conversion of numbers to letters!

Texting can be really cost effective when you want to communicate quickly with someone abroad about a simple question.

EMAIL and its verb forms became acceptable words in Scrabble back in late 2005 when the word list was last revised.

 

[Badger]

I don't even have the capability turned on. I'm not interested in texting and it's an extra expense I don't need. I use the phone to talk to someone, listen to a voicemail, or occasionally take a picture.
I also walk away from anyone who answers their phone or texts if we are having a conversation. If they had good manners then they should be taking those calls after we are finished.

 

[Goonie]

I've had a cellphone for about 24 or 25 years, and have never texted! I use my cell to talk.....that's all. I don't even have voicemail set up on it...and won't. If folks want to get a hold of me, they can call my cellphone, catch me at the coffee shop, stop by the old homestead (where I'm usually at!), send me an email, or hit me up on Facebook.

 

[Ronstar]

I didn't text until a couple of years ago . Now I text several times a day.

 

[Marathoner]

I do text occasionally (I am 33) but I refuse to answer any texts with text-speak; they all had better be written out in proper English. Even though I have an old flip-phone that makes texting difficult, I also always write out entire words.

I hear texting is essential to dating now, so once I start that, I'll probably text a lot more than I do now.

 

[Nords]

I know a mother who has her college kids on a four-hour text-message leash. They dare not leave her texts unanswered, no matter [-]how sober[/-] what activity they might be in the middle of. Ridiculous.

We get an e-mail from our daughter once or twice a month when she has a question or wants a reimbursement. We get a phone call once or twice a semester. She comes home a couple times a year. Otherwise we learn everything we care to know about her from Facebook.

We have a land line phone but we rarely turn on the ringers. I have a pay-as-you-go cell phone, and I only pay for it when I'm on travel. Spouse has used an iPhone for work but has no interest in it for retirement. I get most of my business done via e-mail, but I've been known to send a text message from my PC through the SMS gateway for emergencies.

Everyone else I care to hear from has learned to live with voicemail and e-mail...

 

[Mulligan]

I know a mother who has her college kids on a four-hour text-message leash. They dare not leave her texts unanswered, no matter [-]how sober[/-] what activity they might be in the middle of. Ridiculous.

We get an e-mail from our daughter once or twice a month when she has a question or wants a reimbursement. We get a phone call once or twice a semester. She comes home a couple times a year. Otherwise we learn everything we care to know about her from Facebook.

We have a land line phone but we rarely turn on the ringers. I have a pay-as-you-go cell phone, and I only pay for it when I'm on travel. Spouse has used an iPhone for work but has no interest in it for retirement. I get most of my business done via e-mail, but I've been known to send a text message from my PC through the SMS gateway for emergencies.

Everyone else I care to hear from has learned to live with voicemail and e-mail...

I cant get over how much grief I get from GF, parents and a few friends when I don't answer their messages immediately. They think the thing should be with me everywhere I go. I just tell them you managed to survive the 1970s and 80s without being able to get ahold me immediately just fine. I treat the cell like my landline (which I dont have). It mostly stays on the counter so I don't lose it.

 

[kaneohe]

so.......as an ignorant other- generation inhabitant who has never texted.......I would like to ask if it is a reasonable assumption that:

chat > texting > e-mail > snail mail

are variations of the same written communication method except that the transit time and typical response time are ordered as shown and the devices used are different?

 

[Katsmeow]

I don't get texting. Why would someone want to waste time typing when you can talk to someone? Then again, I don't own a cell phone either.

Because it is convenient and is often more thoughtful and less intrusive.

I generally don't have long conversations on text, but I've found it extremely convenient for certain types of short conversations. It is also good when it is helpful to see the info in writing. For example, when DH or I go to the grocery store we have our kids text us anything they want.

I send about 300 texts a month...my kids are more like 3000 which amazes me....

 

[Walt34]

I don't, but we don't have kids either, in which case we probably would.

This reminds me of why people accept new technologies into their daily lives. In the late '90's one of the [-]secretaries[/-] administrative assistants used a desktop PC at work, connected to a noisy dot matrix printer, so that was the context in which she viewed a PC. Her husband wanted to get a computer and put it in the bedroom and she was vehemently opposed to that saying "I will not have that damn thing in my bedroom!"

When she found out she could get email and photos from her grandchildren in Oregon she wanted the computer on her side of the bed.

 

[Midpack]

It is actually a simple, quick and unobtrusive way to reach people. Less obtrusive than phoning and quicker, generally, than email.

+2. I resisted years ago, but for short messages it's quicker, less obtrusive and cheaper than phone IMO. I text for short messages, email for longer messages and phone as a last resort. Some text exchanges result in a text, 'can you call me' which is fine if the conversation becomes more involved than expected.

All my buddies but one text each other, group text at times. One guy has an expensive smartphone with every bell and whistle but doesn't respond to texts. When we get together and everyone is on the same page except him and he says 'why didn't somebody tell me?' - it's only that he didn't look at a text. He'll learn...

Ain't technology grand.

 

[xyz]

I commute via train and I believe it is courteous to others by not making a lot of noise. I only use the phone on the train when it is absolutly necessary... Do unto others and all that stuff...

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I do not text. Never had the texting capability until our son got a cell plan that included DW and me and texting. DW uses it quite often but I look at it as a waste of time because it takes me too long. Just all thumbs as they say. When we got on that plan I once sent a text to my granddaughter that said "LV YA". Took me about 5 minutes to pull that off. She replied and that was the last text I ever sent.

By the way, the last generation, is it called the silent generation because nobody talks to anyone? They just text? Really, is that the reason? Yesterday DW and I were at Panera's for lunch and I noticed couples sitting at tables, not talking, just texting and in general playing with their phones. Lot of silence in there.

 

[Danmar]

Yes. It's the only thing that gets me a response from our children!

same here- almost instant

 

[Sarah in SC]

I don't, but we don't have kids either, in which case we probably would.

This reminds me of why people accept new technologies into their daily lives. In the late '90's one of the [-]secretaries[/-] administrative assistants used a desktop PC at work, connected to a noisy dot matrix printer, so that was the context in which she viewed a PC. Her husband wanted to get a computer and put it in the bedroom and she was vehemently opposed to that saying "I will not have that damn thing in my bedroom!"

When she found out she could get email and photos from her grandchildren in Oregon she wanted the computer on her side of the bed.

This reminds me of the latest big move for me, keeping the charger for the iPhone by the bed. I sometimes use it for an alarm clock, but the real reason is so I can check email and such first thing in the morning instead of that looooong walk to the plug by the front door where I used to keep it. I feel like this is similar to how people feel who put TVs in their bedroom!

I love texting. Hate talking on the phone. And I'm Gen X all the way, baby!

 

[ERD50]

PSA: Even if you do not text...

I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears repeating.

Even if you do not text, I suggest you do the following - add the texting email address of all important contacts to your address book on your computer. This would be the 10 digit phone #, plus the service provider's email address. Example:

9995551234 @ tmomail.net (T-Mobile)

or

7775551234 @ vtext.com (Verizon), etc... you need to verify the address for their carrier.

[edit - I added spaces to the '@' so it wouldn't format them as links]

In an emergency, when lines are overloaded, texts will go through when voice calls won't connect, or when the voice is so choppy to be useless.

A text is the equivalent of just a fraction of a second of voice, and it can be delayed and still be valuable. This has been the case in several emergencies (we know people who have experienced it).

Even w/o an emergency, I find texting through email on the computer much easier than trying to do it on a phone. And learn to text on your phone, and have those numbers there - you may need it someday when voice is inoperable.


PS - Couldn't answer the poll, my selection would have been:

(X) Once in a while, when I have to (send a text to someone).

-ERD50

 

[FreeAtLast]

I use it only for brief informatinal questions and answers.

 

[Katsmeow]

I look at it as a waste of time because it takes me too long. Just all thumbs as they say. When we got on that plan I once sent a text to my granddaughter that said "LV YA".

I think this brings up a major point. Now, I type really well on keyboards and am adequate on the phone. I have an Android phone and use swype which makes texting easy. But, I was looking at my son the other day texting a friend (he texts about 3000 times per month) and his thumbs were just flying and he could type extremely rapidly. I think that for many in his generation texting is just very fast because of that.

I'm sort of in the middle. I can text reasonably rapidly but can type on a full keyboard much faster. But for someone like my mom she tried to do texting but really couldn't handle the typing part of it.

 

[NickInLincoln]

Bob & Tom said...

This morning on the radio Bob & Tom said that even texting isn't what it was. People are now using their I-phones to surf the web, play games and listen to music. I would have thought it was taking pictures.
I hate the phone and barely use it unless super necessary.

 

[Ally]

This morning on the radio Bob & Tom said that even texting isn't what it was. People are now using their I-phones to surf the web, play games and listen to music. I would have thought it was taking pictures.
I hate the phone and barely use it unless super necessary.

Guilty! I have never had a laptop or tablet and so I use my phone instead. I'm using it right now.

 

[Katsmeow]

This morning on the radio Bob & Tom said that even texting isn't what it was. People are now using their I-phones to surf the web, play games and listen to music. I would have thought it was taking pictures.
I hate the phone and barely use it unless super necessary.

And this is why the new plans at Verizon give you unlimited talk time but what varies your cost is how much data you use. Basically people aren't doing that much talking on their phones. They are texting and otherwise using data. So now price varies based upon data usage not based upon how much you talk.