Americans have been far slower to take to text messaging than Europeans and Asians.
Having lived in India until about six months ago I would regularly send about half a dozen text messages a day. On some days that number exceeded a dozen. Most were to friends (making plans for the weekend or simply asking what route to take to their house) and there were occasional queries from my bosses (when are you filing that story?). If I were to make a guess I’d say that so far in my six months here I have sent less text messages than I would send on a typical day in India.
Don’t get me wrong. Some Americans are very ‘text message savvy’ and send out many messages a day but on average, numbers don’t compare favorably with other nations. Text message savvy Americans still, on an average, send half as many text messages every year when compared to Europeans and only about a third when compared to the Chinese.
So why have Americans been slow adapters to a technology that in many parts of the world is having a profound social impact? The answer: mobile phone contracts that come bundled with a minimum number of minutes.
For a long time, mobile companies in America have made handsets cheaper by forcing users to take a one or two year contract. This includes a minimum number of minutes every month, and for messaging consumers pay extra. In the end consumers are left with little incentive to send messages when their calls are essentially free. In most other countries subscribers are on pay as you go plans. In this case, messaging is a lot cheaper than calling and so users have taken to texting in far larger numbers.
Still, there is some encouraging news. CNet News recently reported that Nokia and Motorola have plans to start selling unlocked phones in the US market. It should be interesting to see what happens to text messaging when people are not required to stick to a contract. Maybe then text messaging will truly take off.
Related Stories: | Topics:Technology, internet + web, India, Science and Technology, Technology, Texting and MMS, United States |
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Recent Comments | 15 Total
February 7, 2007 at 7:23pm by steve m
i suppose it's a general rule that if it's popular internationally, then it's not so in America. we send fewer text messages to be different, "individual"
February 7, 2007 at 7:49pm by Ramon
Since people in Europe and Asia use more public transit, they text more and talk less than Americans. We send fewer text messages, on average, because we spend more time driving. If you commute on public transit, your thumbs and eyes are free to bang out text messages. If you drive yourself to work, as most Americans do, you can't (or at least shouldn't) be texting. It's also much easier to talk on the phone in your car ( can you hear me now, What?. Louder?!) than it is on a bus or train full of others.
February 7, 2007 at 10:35pm by memamc
Just curious why the slant of the article is that text messaging someone is better than talking to them?
February 7, 2007 at 10:39pm by Nyaku K
I think the author needs to do a little more research before coming to any valid conclusions. First of all there are tons of plans by various cell phone companies with inclusive text messages that are virtually cheap. Example, on sprint's fair and flexible plan, $5 will entitle you to 300 text messages and an additional $2 will earn you 500 text messages. Next, an unlocked phone is useless unless it has a network service. This means a sim card or chip from a network provider. If the network providers stick to their contract plans, buyers might not even have any use for their posh new unlocked phones (all unlocked cell phones require sim cards in order to have network service). In addition, unlocked phones have an elevated price tag hence, it could have a negative impact on purchases. Finally, where exactly is the correlation between buying an unlocked phone and an increase in text messages unless network providers sell sim cards with very cheap text messages? Beware that the pay-as-you-go services currently being offered by say T-mobile and Cingular, have very pricey tags.
February 8, 2007 at 12:29am by D
I find that hearing someone's voice conveys much more than just reading a text. I use text as a reminder tool- my Yahoo Calendar lets me do that. I don't talk while I drive, it's too distracting.
February 8, 2007 at 3:56am by Rimantas
Text is often better becuse it does not interrupt the receiver, who may have other things to do.
February 8, 2007 at 5:21am by Espen
Americans use Blackberrys, voice mail, and email rather than mobile phone text messages. This discussion is a little bit like comparing mobile phone use in the States vs. Europe - in Europe, mobiles were competing against expensive land lines (local call metered) in densely populated areas. In the US, people live more spread out and can call locally for free. Hence, cell phone reception is bad and less needed.
Different demographics and technology history, that's all. I don't buy the "sitting on the subway" argument, the difference is not that big.
February 8, 2007 at 6:55am by Eremasi
Whichever method you use (text or voice) is determined predominantly by your culture and the environment (social, economical, etc) that your society lives in. Clearly, the American, European, and Asian societies are unique in their own ways and we must expect differences in all aspects of their lives. Ones preferred communication method is, but, one of them.
Cheers
February 8, 2007 at 8:41am by Joan Zimmerman
I'm going to check out SPRINT's Fair & Flexible plan -- my granddaughter's mobile phone bill (most of it text messaging) was $468 last month.
February 8, 2007 at 12:34pm by Tim Campbell
Behind? An arcane, painful communication method like texting on a teeny-weeny keyboard? Email volume in the US far exceeds other countries including all of Europe. We have very frequent access to PCs and laptops, so "text" information goes through email. We use email on mobile devices like Blackberries and Treos. When forced, we will use the texting features -- but through email, not text. Behind? Don't be silly.
February 9, 2007 at 9:02am by Jose
Im a cingular customer and I send out a lot of text messages and for that I got to add a "media bundle" which increases my bill around 10 dollars. I use public transportation and text messaging like Ramon stated, makes more sense to me. Also when you need to reach a group text messaging is the way. The news got me by surprise since most of the people I know (18-30y/olds) are heavy text users.
February 11, 2007 at 2:27am by leo
Why compare email and text message? We're talking about mobile to mobile communication and pc's don't belong in this conversation. And I agree with the public transportation argument. If you've ever lived in countries where public transportation plays a big role you'll understand that importance of portable electronics. You can't deny the fact that the US has been behind in portable gadgets for years because everyone drives.
February 13, 2007 at 5:37pm by Quinn
Not sure why I would want to spend a full minute entering text when I can ask the same question or make the same statement in 20 seconds via voice.
February 16, 2007 at 1:17am by Steven Burda, MBA
Americans are wayyy too busy for txting!
- Steven Burda, MBA
Connect to me: http://www.linkedin.com/in/burda
April 11, 2007 at 4:35am by Luc
Text messaging is far easier than calling someone, but it has nothing to do with public transport (as mentioned in an above comment).
I travel on public transport less than once a week, and on average send about 200 text messages a week.