Texting on cellphone, pdas (personal digital assist.)

[shootingstar]

I don't have either a cellphone nor personal digital assistant/aid where one types in text messages into teeny-tiny buttons on tiny screen.

Honest, it looks painful to me. And knowing me, my thoughts run faster than my fingers. I couldn't be typing in terse, short phrases into a cellphone or Blackberry.

How about you? Does anyone also surf the Internet at all on a pda? And if you are web-surfing, just what type of info. are you cruisin' around for?

[Mr. Bloom]

I got an iPhone a few weeks ago and I'm hooked.

To this point, I did limited surfing on the cell phone and occassional text messaging...all on a Motorola Razr.

The iPhone is awesome (and the applications have created "need" where "need" didn't previously exist Like the need to know precisely where on the globe I am by gps, or the need to always have a grocery list handy!). The iPhone combines my cell phone, pda, Hewlett Packard calculator, ipod, and many of the features of my laptop - all into one package. There are "knock offs" out there that have better reviews on some features.

Keep in mind, in 1984, I spent $2,500 for an Apple //e computer (where I paid extra for the extra 64K of memory). For $99, the iphone has more capability and 8Gig of memory!

[OakLeaf]

Where did you find an iPhone for $99??? For that price I'd buy out my Verizon contract...

Predictive typing works really well these days, but I think it's mostly an age thing. I don't compose long documents/messages (longer than say 50 characters) without a real keyboard. IMO the single major limitation to the iPhone that makes me want to keep my old PDA, is document handling. There's no application to create or edit MS Word documents on it, and there is no full-size keyboard available for it. Even without a keyboard, yeah, I really prefer a stylus and handwriting recognition. Showing my age, I know. Although how you survived without a shopping list, Mr. S....?

Yeah there have been all the news stories about people getting "Blackberry thumb," but that's just the 21st century version of "Nintendonitis" I think, something "sexy" in the news about a new type of overuse injury that may be common enough to recognize, but really doesn't happen to everyone.

[uforgot]

I text, but only because I have two twentyish sons who text me. I also have a new Motorola z9 with the at&t navigator and I love it. They had a special for $5 a month for the Navigator so I also got unlimited internet. I can take it off any time I want. On my phone it comes out to a total of $20 for internet and gps. I find I use the internet to check weather and email when I am away from home.

[KathiCville]

I text my BF a few times a day on average---short messages on topics that don't merit a phone call. My technology is pretty primitive: a pay-as-you-go TracFone. I've had the same one for two years. Keypad is pretty beat up at this point, but I know the lay-out so well that most of the time I barely need to look at what I'm typing before I hit 'send.'..... If I splurged on an iPhone I'd probably be on the darned thing all day, even at the library, where I now go to escape the phone and Internet access and actually get WORK done.

[OakLeaf]

It occurs to me that part of it may have to do with how fast one types on a standard keyboard. Which also may be an age thing - but not sure about that. Someone like me who's typed upward of 130 wpm on a standard keyboard for the last 30 years, is understandably reluctant to hunt and peck with my thumbs. Someone who hunts and pecks on a standard keyboard, probably not so reluctant.