What Carriers Aren't Eager to Tell You About Texting

Just today I had a text message that my wife sent me be delayed.  She sent it at 11:30AM and I didn't receive it until about 2:00PM after I had already talked to her on the phone.  It's a little frustrating.

Realisticly text messaging dosen't "cost" the company anything extra. There just piggy backing on the original RF feed if I understand it correctly. Check out (howstuffworks.com). They got a great article on how cellular technology works regarding everything. :) P.S. ATT rips me off for text messaging. 20 bucks for unlimited text?! Thievery!

Very true insignia90. Also, for some reason, my kid responds almost immediately to my text messages and apparently doesn't even listen to the voice mails I leave on her cell phone. "Oh, Mom called. . ." seems to be all that registers. <aaarrg!>

Also, for some reason, my kid responds almost immediately to my text messages and apparently doesn't even listen to the voice mails I leave on her cell phone.

I'm the same way though.  I always respond to text messages, emails, and IM's on my blackberry before I listen to my voicemail.  If you want to reach me, send me a text message, email, or IM and your response will likely be within the next few minutes.  If I'm not in a place where I can (or should) answer a call, your voicemail is going to sit there for a bit. 

My wife and I are both likely to be in various meetings while at our respective jobs and we know that the best way to contact the other is through some form of text-based messaging.  It's a lot easier to look down and read a message and respond to it it than it is to apologize to everyone else in the meeting and ask if I can be excused for a moment because "I have to take this call." 

Saying "I have to take this call," sounds so lame in this day and age unless you're expecting biopsy test results from your doctor or your kid is hitchiking to Tijuana or something.  I guess it's a hold-over from the ancient times when the only people with cell phone were oh-so-important. :-P

Saying "I have to take this call," sounds so lame in this day and age unless you're expecting biopsy test results from your doctor or your kid is hitchiking to Tijuana or something.

Definitely, especially when it happens in the middle of a conversation.  To me hardly anything is more rude than putting the conversation with the person or persons you're actually with on hold while you take a phone call.  I value the people who are face-to-face with me at any given moment.  People think I'm weird, but unless I'm expecting your call and unless I'm not doing anything else, I don't answer my phone.  All calls go to voicemail and I call folks back in the order of importance that I place on their call.  Just because you choose to call me right now doesn't mean that I choose to stop whatever I'm doing to answer your call.  Leave a detailed message and I'll call you back when I'm ready to talk to you.

Exactly. I have a cell phone for my convenience, not everyone else's.

I pay per each text.  Last month, my wife and I sent and received a combined total of 5 text messages (all but one were mine), and how much did Sprint charge us? A whopping $1.00!  I did have a promotional unlimited texting plan for $5/month a while back, but I just wasn't using it.  I have consistently used only 5-10 texts per month, and that means I was paying 50 cents each.  It just wasn't worth the extra money, and I cancelled.  I now pay $1 to $2 a month as opposed to $5.  Not much, but technically it is a savings on my part.

I guess I'm old fashioned.  I use a phone for talking and a computer for typing.  Just because the technology is there, and is evolving all of the time, doesn't mean it's for everyone.  Besides, the buttons on the phones are getting smaller and smaller every year, and I'll just end up getting arthritis in my big fat fingers anyway.

I just prefer it rather than have everyone hear my conversation, also it is great when you may be a little too busy to just sit and have a conversation.

That's a major consideration for me too.  Maybe I'm just too private, but I don't want knowing that I'm meeting my wife for lunch or that I need to pick up a prescription for my son after work or any such thing.  A quick text message exchange settles all of that without anyone knowing anything more about my personal life than I choose to tell them.

Can some explain to me how a person could be "too busy" to have a conversation but not too busy to be tapping out messages on their phone?

Can some explain to me how a person could be "too busy" to have a conversation but not too busy to be tapping out messages on their phone?

For me it's actually pretty easy to be too busy to have a conversation but not too busy to tap out a message.  In my job when I'm not on the road I spend a lot of time in meetings or working with various departments on various projects.  If I'm in a meeting, for example, and I want to let my wife know that I'm probably going to our favorite Mexican place for lunch and want to know if she can join me there, it's a simple matter for me to whip out my blackberry and tap out "La Cocina 1:30.  Join me?"  That takes all of 15 seconds to type and send.  If I wanted to call her and relay the same information I would need to step out of the room, call her, she might be in a meeting herself so I would get her voicemail, leave a message, and re-enter the room.  All of that would definitely take more than 15 seconds and would inconvenience other people because I would be out of the room.  The other aspect of it is privacy.  I don't need everyone knowing that I'm meeting my wife for lunch at La Cocina at 1:30.  It's none of their damn business.

That takes all of 15 seconds to type and send

Nothing personal but just trying to understand here:

You're saying that it's ok for you to blow everyone else off in the room as you take time to address a trivial personal issue right in the middle of a meeting?  And you think that no one else notices or cares that you aren't paying attention and directly disrespecting the speaker?

You're saying that it's ok for you to blow everyone else off in the room as you take time to address a trivial personal issue right in the middle of a meeting?  And you think that no one else notices or cares that you aren't paying attention and directly disrespecting the speaker?

It depends on the culture of your workplace.  In my workplace just about everybody who attends an upper-level meeting comes armed with his/her laptop and blackberry.  At any point during a meeting you might have to turn your laptop screen around so others can see it, or connect your laptop to the projector so truly everyone can see it.  You might need to send an IM to someone else in the company to get a tidbit of information you might need for the meeting.  You might need to respond to a client's email on the spot, with input from others in the meeting.  You might need to ask someone else in the meeting something that's tangentially related to a topic that came up in the meeting without disturbing everybody else.  So in the meetings that I attend, whipping out your blackberry to send a message to someone isn't a distraction, it's an expectation.  I should also point out that we record all of our meetings and distribute them as mp3 files typically that same day to everyone involved and to those who couldn't attend, so if you missed something you can always play back the mp3 at any time.  This is not your father's Oldsmobile.  This is not your father's business meeting either.

Have you ever been sharing your desktop -- either in a meeting or on a video conference -- and received an IM from someone saying something like, "Need to have lunch to discuss what  <name of Evil Person> is trying to do?" And Evil Person is in the room and reads the message, along with everyone else. <Shudder>

Or accidentally typed something in the wrong IM box about <Really Stupid Person> and realized it was typed into Really Stupid Person's IM box by mistake?

I need to write an article about all the ways IM can ruin your life if not treated like a lit stick of dynamite.

Apologies -- totally off topic.

Have you ever been sharing your desktop -- either in a meeting or on a video conference -- and received an IM from someone saying something like, "Need to have lunch to discuss what  <name of Evil Person> is trying to do?" And Evil Person is in the room and reads the message, along with everyone else. <Shudder>

Or accidentally typed something in the wrong IM box about <Really Stupid Person> and realized it was typed into Really Stupid Person's IM box by mistake?

Before sharing my desktop or putting my laptop on the projector, I ALWAYS close my IM apps and my email.  I've learned from the mistakes of others there.  Before having tabbed IMs I have accidentally typed the wrong message in the wrong window, but I haven't done that in years.  You do have to be careful with both IM and email communications, especially with that evil Reply to All button and the propensity that some people have of BCC-ing other people into an email thread without your knowledge.

DivBy0:

So in the meetings that I attend, whipping out your blackberry to send a message to someone isn't a distraction, it's an expectation.  I should also point out that we record all of our meetings and distribute them as mp3 files typically that same day to everyone involved and to those who couldn't attend, so if you missed something you can always play back the mp3 at any time.  This is not your father's Oldsmobile.  This is not your father's business meeting either.

Boy it must be interesting when your power goes out.  What do you guys do, throw up your hands and scream 'whaddo we dooo???!!'  :-)

Boy it must be interesting when your power goes out.  What do you guys do, throw up your hands and scream 'whaddo we dooo???!!'  :-)

The great thing about living in hurricane country is that we have a massive generator on the side of the building and a huge tank of diesel to go with it.  We laugh at power outages.

The first thing that impressed me about the company was how tech-savvy they were.  When I came in for my interview the receptionist notified the head of HR that I was there by IM, not by picking up the phone.  The first time I showed up to a meeting with just a notepad I got some odd looks from the seasoned veterans.  I quickly learned that the company expectation is that you will have answers at your fingertips.  If you need information from somebody during a meeting you will IM them to get that information.  If others in the meeting need a file from you, you will send it to them from your laptop while you're sitting in the meeting.  Our meetings tend to be very interactive with a great deal of participation from everyone.

Can anybody top 4,000+ texts/month??......my kid's thumb is stuck on his keypad......

Obviously this isn't the unlimited plan, which my carrier has to be losing money on for my family.

Not really.  They're playing the odds.  For every person who goes to the all-you-can-eat buffet and loads up on 6 plates of food there are 20 other people who fill one plate and never go back for seconds.

Insignia, can't top that -- that's very impressive. My kid's is "only" around 2,000 a month. But that still means she has to be texting in her sleep, in the shower, etc. I've come to recognize the glazed-over expression on her face when I think I'm having a serious discussion with her, then notice her fingers moving in her lap -- texting by touch while maintaining the "mm hmm," nodding behavior required when talking to a parent.

When I was her age, I drove my parents crazy by talking for hours on the party line ("The WHAT line?", the youngsters are thinking). Ha ha.

What amazes me is how he does it without looking.......if I need a phone number from my contacts, I need to look to see which key has an H.........

insignia: Most months my teenage son totals out around 9000 txt a month, but always stays within his 1500/month plan.....most of his buddies are on Verizon also...so they do not "count".

9000 TEXTS A MONTH???  That's one every 5 minutes!!  That doesn't even leave him adequate time to eat, sleep, or shower.  Don't take this personally, I'm sure your son is wonderful, but you need to tell him to ease off a bit... he'll end up with arthritis or carpal tunnel in no time.

4000? 9000 texts a month?  The term intervention comes to mind...

Somehow it leaves him PLENTY of time to eat and sleep......

You would think he wouldn't have time, but he does.  Actually, he is an athlete, so he is on planned nutrition programs and has to consume a set amount of food and get plenty of sleep.  Not all of the texts are ones he's sending, a good bit are received.  I guess he is good at multi-tasking since he manages to take care of his responsibilities around the house (usually with phone in hand) and at school(without the phone as it stays in the car when he gets out at school).

Really, I do not see much of a difference in his texting and my being on the telephone non-stop when I was a teenager.  Of course, he doesn't have that option as we do not use a landline.

Based on the math in the article, you're wasting your money.  I figured that out after a few months and cancelled my texting plan.  I send about half as many as you do.  You and I are better off paying per message.  I'm guessing you're paying about $120 a year, you'd pay about $40 if you paid for each one.  Again, $80 isn't much over one year, but it might pay for a really nice dinner.

Now if you're like some of the people in here who have kids that send 2,000 messages a month or more, it pays to have the unlimited plan.  And to put that in perspective, that's about 1 message every 20 minutes.  Wonder how much time they spend on homework or exercise?

if I go out of range and I'm in "dead zone", I call it a vacation and look at the scenery or actually talk to the people I'm with, or... try this one - have my own thought, with in my own brain.  eek!  That must be scary for some of the modern day people.

A lot of people underestimate the joy in simply being able to disconnect.  I set my phone to automatically turn itself off at 8PM and on again at 6:30AM.  The time between those hours is my time to do whatever I want and not be disturbed by my phone.  I will also turn it off when I go to a movie, to church, or out to eat with family and friends because that is my time, not whoever might be trying to call me.  When I go on a long drive I set the phone in the passenger seat, crank up the radio, and don't give a second thought to the phone.  I'll check it to see if I've missed any calls when I stop for gas or for something to eat, but unless they left a message saying that it's somewhat important, I don't return the call until after I reach my destination.  I know I'm rare, but I truly value my time and you do not have a right to intrude upon my time unless I invite you to do so.  I just don't understand how some people have the constant need to be on the phone and willingly choose not to interact with someone who happens to be right in front of them in order to interact with someone else by phone.

Same here.  But I have it even better... I can leave my phone on, and hardly anyone ever calls me.  One of my friends or family members will call every few days or so, my wife and I usually talk once or twice during the workday on breaks, and that's about it.  All of our other communications are via email.  We don't even have a landline.  I don't understand how these people do it either, especially their kids who send 100 messages a day.  It's like you just want to strangle them and yell, 'stop texting your damned friends and go hang out with them!!'  I can remember being their age, and after 2-3 straight hours of Nintendo or PC games my parents would be yelling at me, telling me to get off my ass and do something!  And the adults who are always on the phone in their car, it's like what is so damned important that it can't wait until you get home??  You know your kids are in the backseat, they might appreciate some attention.

And the adults who are always on the phone in their car, it's like what is so damned important that it can't wait until you get home??

I wonder about the ones I see each morning on my way to work who can't have left their own homes more than a few seconds earlier but are already on the phone.  Just what is so important that they can't even drive to the entrance of our subdivision without being on the phone?  I like to spend my morning drive talking to my son or listening to the radio.  I have no desire to connect to anyone who isn't in the car with me unless it is an absolute necessity.

I used to pay an extra $15/month for unlimited text messaging every month.  It was worth every penny. 

That begs the question, is it not worth every penny anymore?  What is your setup now, do you pay by message or do you have a better deal?

Better deal.  Added my fella and we got the unlimited text messaging/free calls to each other/1,500 minutes, free after 7p.m./weekends deal.  $100/month but since we split the bill, I pay $50 (plus taxes and fees).  That's about what I was paying 6 years ago before I even knew how to text message.  I don't use a landline.  So it's not a bad deal.  I think I save on minutes text messaging, and since I don't get home from work till after 7 p.m. anyway, I never go over minutes.