We’re getting the (text) message, we just don’t care

Hi. This is really interesting post. Thank You! I have just subscribed to Your rss!

Best regards

Hi. This is really interesting post. Thank You! I have just subscribed to Your rss!

Best regards

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Make love, not war!

Thanks to all for contributing to this conversation.

The point this article was not to say that bicycling is lame or that one place is better than another. It is to say that SMS usage will vary depending on local behaviors and life style.

Unlike what Paul Kedrosky from Business 2.0 said, we don't need "new technology" to text more. We simply have to desire (or need) doing it.

Actually, in Japan it was considered rude to text on public transportation too. I mean, people did it anyway but sometimes fellow passengers could object (once had a crazy lady on the bus shout at me, the *obatalion*). Japan's usage is due to the same cost-factors you mentioned RE Paris.

Meanwhile, usage of bicycles in China has dropped tremendously in the last few years. When I lived in Beijing in 2004 not that many bikes were on the roads (was comparable to San Francisco/Bay Area). My assistant told me, "Foreigners always say they want to see the bikes. But it's not like that anymore."

Ummm I don't know why the article says that texting is almost non-existent in USA. I just got back from a vacation to more than 11 European countries and you see a phone for every 10 people maybe or less, and in USA you see nearly every single woman and less so man with one at all hours of the day texting and talking both. America's a far more social culture than European ones.

Someone else wrote the text below, and I couldn't said it better myself.
It's that mindset of the author (me-myself-I) that's gonna kill the planet...

Anonymous , on 06/09/06 8:46 PM

"we also don’t use as much “Bicycle Technology” than China, and it’s probably a good thing" sure it s a good thing to take your car for 400 meter to go to buy your milk. you should think twice sometimes before writing. Man you re totally wrong ! he good thing would be that USA use more bicycle. so why is it a good thing that u don t use bicycles

Tim,

2500 is quite impressive! What's the breakup? How many do you send/receive?

Alan,

You are completely right: wireless carriers interoperability increase the odds that users will contact someone via SMS. There’s no question that a larger pool of users is better. It is one of the many reasons why people would send more text messages. But as Business 2.0 states, countries with a much smaller user base still see a higher usage rate.

I don’t consider that interoperability is a key technology. It had more to do with silly wireless carriers trying to “lock” their users into their networks. It's a business decision.

At some point, they realized that they would make more money from opening up, so they did.

Ian,

I text more when the context allows me to do so: I text only when I'm not in front of a computer (with email/IM access) or if I'm not driving. Both of which happen a lot more when I'm abroad where I have to use public transportation and no WIFI/EV-DO access. In my case, the computer competes with my phone for my text communication.

I'm not sure if you would consider that I'm hiding in a cave or not but some data suggest that the average number of SMS sent per month is relatively low in the U.S and that you're way off the charts - congrats.

So the question might be: where do you come from? :)

Anonymous,

I just wanted to imply that SMS is to technology what bicycle is to transportation: relatively primitive.

I'm not trying saying that bicycling is inherently worse than driving. I should have used a different wording, perhaps.

3 daughters, over 2500 text messages per month. Living in a hurricane prone area, sms alerts of storm tracking allows me to live my life without having to be tied to the weather channel or online. Ride a bus or any kind of public transportaion in the US, in any city and watch the social behaviour. The phone is used as a way to connect with friends and family and at the same time shield the user from the immediate area. Riders come in, sit down and open there phone to either text or play games. All ages, all races. granted certain lifestyles in front of computers or on the road, texting is not used much but is not the norm. Same as the CEO who once told a group of workers who were talking of where to go to lunch based on the coupons they had, that he would never use coupons, the comment made back to him was "If I made 400k a year, I would not use coupons either". SMS in the US fits into the lifestyle of a huge sector consumers.

Much of what you write is true regarding the differences between the rest of the world and the USA, but nevertheless, texting is showing tremendous growth in the USA and Canada. Moreover, as American cellular companies continue to compete more aggressively on price on the voice side, mobile marketing will be the big cash cow for it too.

It is true that culture has played a roll in SMS usage, but contrary to the root theme of this article text message adoption in the America HAS been impacted by technology. In fact, adoption has been impacted by technology in a big way. U.S. consumers are exhibiting delayed adoption of SMS, in part, because of carrier interoperability concerns. Before 2002 it was impossible for consumers on different carriers to send text messages to one another. Consumers could call one another, but they could not text. Carrier interoperability in the U.S. was resolved in 2002. Since that time text message usage in the U.S. has grown dramatically.

"we also don’t use as much “Bicycle Technology” than China, and it’s probably a good thing" sure it s a good thing to take your car for 400 meter to go to buy your milk. you should think twice sometimes before writing. Man you re totally wrong ! he good thing would be that USA use more bicycle. so why is it a good thing that u don t use bicycles

Its funny that you mention what a cash cow text messaging is for carriers but still the actual numbers don't show 1/2 the usage of Asia or Europe. One thing the analyst haven't looked at is WHEN users text in the US. I my case, most people text me after they get my voicemail - especially work colleagues assuming I am on the phone and they need a quick response. I can't tell you how many of my text messages read "call me when you get off the phone."

Odd that you don't use text messaging. Everyone I know including my parents and familiy memebers are text addicts. All of my friends and their friends and their friends friends text constantly. When I travel and meet new people and exchange numbers I usually get a text from them not a call. America texts constantly. Not sure where you have been hiding.

You're right in that cultural & social factors affect the differential adoption of text messaging, rather than access to technology.

Howard Rheingold in 'Smart Mobs' writes about how Japan and other societies lack private spaces, whether because of overcrowding, multiple-generational housing (no privacy in the home), widespread use of public transportation and public spaces for entertainment, or cultural norms such as the one you mentioned. Text messaging in such situations becomes an invaluable tool for coordination and private communication.

There are some significant American subcultures that have adopted things like the Sidekick ('urban youth') and the Blackberry ('business/government employees'). Both of these groups probably share some similarities with the cultures and societies overseas that have adopted text messaging as a necessary part of life. However, I do think that there might be some failure of social imagination, or lack of a 'killer app' that also hampers widespread US adoption of text messaging.