Death Toll Revised Down to 24 After Monstrous Oklahoma Tornado…100+ Injured…Children Among the Dead…Stunning Pictures…Woman Finds Dog During Interview!

Complete Oklahoma Tornado Coverage: Current Death Toll, Incredible pictures, Behind the scenes with Beck, & amazing story of a woman and her dog

Technology

Did You Know: The First Text Message Was Actually Sent 20 Years Ago

Dec. 3, 2012 8:55am Liz Klimas

First Text Message Sent 20 Years Ago Dec. 3 But Non Traditional Message Services Beginning to Take Its Place

Non-traditional texting services are beginning to upstage traditional mobile phone texting. (Image: Shutterstock.com)

On this date 20 years ago — Dec. 3, 1992 — the first short messaging service, more commonly known as the text message, was born. Although still the most popular form of text-based messaging, other services that update social media or chat methods are beginning to take center stage.

After British engineer Neil Papworth sent the first text at age 22, the new method of communication would not only change the way mobile phones were designed, but also shift how an entire generation preferred to communicate. Among teens, texting is on the rise whereas traditional phone talking is down. The median number of texts sent per day among teens is 60.

But texting in and of itself is changing. According to a recent report by the New York Times Bits blog, traditional texting has declined in the United States and around the world as users opt for services that won’t charge them to send messages to their contacts:

Instead of sending traditional text messages, cellphone owners are shifting toward Internet-based messaging services, like Apple’s iMessage, Facebook messaging and WhatsApp, [independent mobile analyst Chetan] Sharma says. These services are popular because they don’t charge per text; they are gradually redefining what we think of as text messaging.

According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of Americans now own a cellphone. In addition to simply using the phone to talk, Pew found that a significant number of people use them to complete many other tasks as well. Here’s a look at some of those:

Cellphone owners use their devices to perform these activities in addition to talking. (Image: Pew Research Center)

In case you’re wondering what the first text message said, it was “Merry Christmas,” according to Papworth’s website. The message was typed on a PC — mobile phones didn’t have keyboards at the time — and was received by Vodafone executive Richard Jarvis’ mobile phone while he was at an office holiday party.

“Initially the idea was for them to use it essentially as a paging service — no one had any idea how gigantic the texting phenomenon would become,” Papworth wrote on his website.

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

(H/T: QZ)

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (35)

SilentOne
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 6:01pm
and here i thought it was Morse Code ..

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 12:54am
  I didn’t realize that texting was 20 years old either. However, the US made a huge mistake in the late 90s when Sprint and Verizon (in the early 2000s) went with “chosen people” proprietary designed CDMA. It was designed by liberal “chosen person” Irwin Jacobs of Qualcomm who used the proceeds to fund the Democratic Party and a host of other Marxist causes. In exchange for this wonderful CDMA technology used by Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular and others, we get a big brother mobile operator that has total control over your phone. You can’t do anything with your phone without your network operator’s permission. Your phone company is also your dictator. CDMA should stand for “communistic, division, multiple access.” Also, Qualcomm tried to force our government to force Iraq to use their technology after they were conquered in 2004. Very corrupt.
  
  Meanwhile AT&T and T-Mobile use the GSM standard which is opened sourced. They use SIM cards, so the network operator doesn’t care if you switch phones. SIM cards make all the difference. You can travel anywhere in the world and use your phone as long as it works on quad band. There are over 5 billion GSM users in the world, while the US is this little CDMA island. There is much better phone selection with GSM too. Too bad the US went with that corrupt CDMA technology. We would be a lot better off had we went with GSM. CDMA=”chosen people,” division, multiple access.
  
  Report this comment
- SteelWolf
  Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:38am
  Morse Code Is an incorrect name for Continuous Wave. Guessing your not a Amateur radio opperator? :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_wave
  
  Report this comment
canada 1958
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 10:58am
really the telagraphawas the first text message. somewhere tecnology got screwed up if texting caught on before we could talk to a person live then technology would be right but come on after we had the ability to talk live to someone wirelessly then go back and now we type out what we want to say to me is very backward but what do you exspet from kids nowabays they should be called the stupid generation

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- danielmchick
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:09pm
  There is much irony in the Force with this post.
  
  Report this comment
- davecorkery
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 2:30pm
  Learn to type, ignoramus. What would you expect from some one born way, way back in 1958. Stupid generation.
  
  Report this comment
Riptide31
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 7:26pm
Let me guess………..it was Al Gore who sent it.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- right-wing-waco
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:39pm
  And Al Gore that received it.
  
  Report this comment
WardMD
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 6:17pm
It SHOULD have said, “Watson, I need you!”

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
GuruMeditation
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 4:56pm
Really? I still haven’t received it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Teaple
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 3:20pm
When was the first smoke-signal sent?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
CulperGang
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 2:00pm
text message from me, to you: don’t complain if you get finger raped by TSA. stop flying. You knew they were going to do that and you still bough a ticket. well booo hooooo.
boycott the airlines don’t fly or take what they dish out but stop your f whinning………..”I got raped and groped………”

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Chuck Stein
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 4:19pm
  They are unionized, now, so it is all the more fitting.
  
  Report this comment
Crazy_Jake
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 1:57pm
The Link that i took to get here said the article would say what was said in the text from 20 years ago. Did I miss it?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Exiled
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 2:48pm
  “Merry Christmas”
  
  Report this comment
- garylee123
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 4:13pm
  It said ” Al Gore was here first”.
  
  Report this comment
- garryp
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 4:43pm
  try reading the article after your arrival.
  
  Report this comment
KernelOfTruth
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 12:44pm
Gee, wasn’t the technology behind SkyTel (two-way text pagers) earlier than cell phone texting?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dont-care-anymore
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 11:12am
you can text on a pay phone
-.-. .- -. / -.– — ..- / – . -..- – / — -. / .- / .–. .- -.– / .–. …. — -. .

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- December3
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 12:35pm
  The level of comunication skills has deteriorated to the point that many people are no more understandable than jungle animals using grunts. Read fresh political comentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
  Report this comment
TheGrtDcptn
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 11:03am
notsurewhatshappeninghere wrote…

‘I don’t like being a grammar nazi, but I can’t stand the absolute stupidity of this country any longer. It’s the same thing with the ‘I and me’ thing. *If I here* another person use “I” incorrectly instead of “me” because they think it makes them sound smart, I will scream’…

Then start screaming, at yourself…*If I here*…?!…I do believe that would be *If I HEAR*…!!
Get over yourself, you’re just not that important, and don’t look in the mirror, or you may see an utterly STUPID person looking back at YOU…

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- QuincySmith
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 11:55am
  You boys go to your rooms, no dinner.
  
  Report this comment
00100111
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:56am
“If I here another person use “I” incorrectly instead of “me” because they think it makes them sound smart, I will scream.”

Hear* – fixed it for you.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- notsurewhatshappeninghere
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 12:05pm
  Thanks! LOL
  
  Report this comment
TheGrtDcptn
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:45am
One of the most worthless invention’s of all times…texting…

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
WakeUp
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:44am
In the early 90′s I used a text pager on a regular basis to send/receive texts.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
WakeUp
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:41am
In the early 90′s I had a text pager and sent/received text messages on a regular basis. This writer is very limited in his knowledge.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Exiled
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 2:50pm
  We, too, had pagers that could send text messages back and forth to each other in the early 90′s at work.
  
  Report this comment
Scott.N5HUM
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:25am
This may be true for cell phones, but the first text message was sent in 1844. The first wireless text message in 1892. Ham radio operator’s have been doing it since 1909. So, happy 168th birthday text messages.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Winedude
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:45am
I can’t say I saw this coming 20 years ago but when I was in Europe in 2001 to visit my daughter going to school there, she was spending a lot of time doing test messaging. It wasn’t until a few years later that I saw it popular in the US.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- proantisocialist
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:18am
  I the late 80′s i texted a message to fords FPSD during a stock order i placed online. shouldn’t this count?
  
  Report this comment
VanGrungy
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:36am
I remember the days when owning a pager was cool. Analog cell reception was the norm and StarTACs were $1000.

I’m glad I quit using the newish micro tablet phones. It’s getting so that one can live in a bubble comfortably numb.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
kickagrandma
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:00am
YES! It was about global warming! algorista sent it when he invented the internet.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
huey6367
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 8:59am
Did you know: I could care less?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- notsurewhatshappeninghere
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:43am
  So you do care then? Or are you just another moron who doesn’t have the ability to logically reason through that statement to say it correctly? If you COULD care less, that implies that you already care somewhat…I believe that you meant that you COULDN’T care less, because YOU DON’T ALREADY CARE. Sorry, but I tend to enjoy intelligence and grammar, and am saddened by how utterly STUPID people sound nowadays in this country.
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.