Trying to talk to a twentysomething is equally useless. It's all text, text, text. Now there are many times when a text is good, such as when you need to send directions or a phone number, or you need to message a lot of people at once, or if you're lost in the woods and only barely have half a bar.
But I just don't see the appeal of "I want to talk to my friends. I know, I'll go TYPE ON MY PHONE!"
I suspect its popularity started as a high-tech method of passing notes in school, and now an entire generation of (ostensibly) adults uses it as their primary means of communication.
There was a guy ~25 years ago that tried to start a dot shooting league, complete with official targets.
One target merely had a series of dots, and you fired one shot per dot. You got a certain number of points for tagging a dot, and more points for completely removing it.
The other target was caliber specific, and had a series of triangles composed of three dots. You got one shot per triangle. If placed properly, your shot could touch all three dots. This was, of course, the highest point value. Otherwise, you scored merely the number of dots you hit.
I text a lot because I have a 22-year-old daughter (who graduated college today - woohoo!) and my wife finds it easier (more discreet) to answer texts from work when a quick question-and-answer exchange is needed. My boss also texts quite a bit. So ages here run from 22 to over 60 (me). But none of us has any use for Twitter. It boils down to what works for each of us.
The only reason I text as much as I do is because my boss tends to text me when she needs something while she's in court. I text her back so the answer is linked to her original text.
What's confusing (and mildly irritating) about this is that her phone will just as easily send the same message to my work email account, which pops up on my computer right in front of me - and would also keep potentially confidential information off of my personal cell phone.
On the other hand... "I'm sorry officer, I can't unlock my phone for you to dig through my private information without a warrant because it contains information that may be protected by attorney-client privilege."
Though I'll often go to the range with a pile of copy paper and a black marker.
Yeah... that text stuff is all kinds of cargo cult sad. A text message has it's place, but that phone calls and emails are being lost out is just the sad.
A learned helplessness with the voicemail and email box. Meh. Now I wanna yell at the neighbor kids about being on my lawn.
Personally, I would like to see the TSA presence in airports funded completely by a ticket surcharge that is required to be a separate line item on the ticket. Make the travelling public explicitly aware of the monetary cost of running those operations.
Oz said what I was going to. Reduce their federal budget (not that we bother to pass one any more) funding to zero, and make it a $100 (or however much it has to be) fee on the ticket. Make the people who are using it pay for it. And make it really obvious.
I get National Weather Service weather warnings and activation notifications for local Ham radio emergency types (ARES and SKYWARN) as text messages on my phone.
Sending texts/using them for conversations? Not so much.
Your two dozen text messages exceeds mine by a good half dozen. No, I'm not Amish or a Luddite, I just have no use for it.
ReplyDeleteTrying to talk to a twentysomething is equally useless. It's all text, text, text. Now there are many times when a text is good, such as when you need to send directions or a phone number, or you need to message a lot of people at once, or if you're lost in the woods and only barely have half a bar.
ReplyDeleteBut I just don't see the appeal of "I want to talk to my friends. I know, I'll go TYPE ON MY PHONE!"
I suspect its popularity started as a high-tech method of passing notes in school, and now an entire generation of (ostensibly) adults uses it as their primary means of communication.
God, I feel old.
"I've sent maybe two dozen text messages in my life..."
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying you've texted roughly twice as often as you've answered emails? ;)
There was a guy ~25 years ago that tried to start a dot shooting league, complete with official targets.
ReplyDeleteOne target merely had a series of dots, and you fired one shot per dot. You got a certain number of points for tagging a dot, and more points for completely removing it.
The other target was caliber specific, and had a series of triangles composed of three dots. You got one shot per triangle. If placed properly, your shot could touch all three dots. This was, of course, the highest point value. Otherwise, you scored merely the number of dots you hit.
I text a lot because I have a 22-year-old daughter (who graduated college today - woohoo!) and my wife finds it easier (more discreet) to answer texts from work when a quick question-and-answer exchange is needed. My boss also texts quite a bit. So ages here run from 22 to over 60 (me). But none of us has any use for Twitter. It boils down to what works for each of us.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I text as much as I do is because my boss tends to text me when she needs something while she's in court. I text her back so the answer is linked to her original text.
ReplyDeleteWhat's confusing (and mildly irritating) about this is that her phone will just as easily send the same message to my work email account, which pops up on my computer right in front of me - and would also keep potentially confidential information off of my personal cell phone.
On the other hand... "I'm sorry officer, I can't unlock my phone for you to dig through my private information without a warrant because it contains information that may be protected by attorney-client privilege."
Hmmmm...
That dot stuff is real neat.
ReplyDeleteThough I'll often go to the range with a pile of copy paper and a black marker.
Yeah... that text stuff is all kinds of cargo cult sad. A text message has it's place, but that phone calls and emails are being lost out is just the sad.
A learned helplessness with the voicemail and email box. Meh.
Now I wanna yell at the neighbor kids about being on my lawn.
Personally, I would like to see the TSA presence in airports funded completely by a ticket surcharge that is required to be a separate line item on the ticket. Make the travelling public explicitly aware of the monetary cost of running those operations.
ReplyDeleteI sent that many texts to a friend last week discussing the sexual proclivities of D.C. comics superheroes. Wait, I think I just proved the point.
ReplyDeleteOz said what I was going to. Reduce their federal budget (not that we bother to pass one any more) funding to zero, and make it a $100 (or however much it has to be) fee on the ticket. Make the people who are using it pay for it. And make it really obvious.
ReplyDeleteI get National Weather Service weather warnings and activation notifications for local Ham radio emergency types (ARES and SKYWARN) as text messages on my phone.
ReplyDeleteSending texts/using them for conversations? Not so much.
Unless you count PSK31 and APRS ;)