Texting on cellphone, pdas (personal digital assist.)

[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.

[Crankin]

I'm almost as un-techno as Shootingstar. I have a cell phone, with a nice At&T contract because my husband got an I Phone in August. He drives me crazy with it... checking his email and just "having to" find something on the web when he doesn't need to. Last weekend I had to yell at him to put it away when we were at cycling friend's house for dinner. We don't usually exchange heated words, but I was mad!
My cell phone is never on, unless I have to make a call when I am out of the house, which is maybe once a month? I don't know how to use any of the functions on the phone. In fact, I had just figured out my last phone, when I had to give it up. Needless to say, I don't text. I really don't feel the need to talk to people that often! I will call or email if I need to. On the other hand, my husband doesn't text, either. A couple of his employees text him once in awhile and he'll reply, but he doesn't initiate it. My older son is the king of texting. His girlfriend lives in NY during the week and this is how they communicate during the day.
A funny related story. On Monday, one of my classes was cancelled. The professor emailed early AM, saying she would make a definite decision by noon and send another email. Well, I had to leave to get into the city at 10:30, so when I was eating lunch at the university, I checked my messages on one of the public computers, to find out that yes, the class was cancelled. When I went to my first class (before the cancelled one) one of my classmates came rushing in, telling me that she tried to text me about the later cancellation, only to find out that the number she had for me was a land line! Can you imagine the horror?

[sundial]

First gen iPhone user here--won't go back to the other phones. I enjoy texting on this phone. I've heard the Blackberry was THE choice phone to text.

[shootingstar]

I'm almost as un-techno as Shootingstar. I have a cell phone, with a nice At&T contract because my husband got an I Phone in August. He drives me crazy with it... checking his email and just "having to" find something on the web when he doesn't need to. Last weekend I had to yell at him to put it away when we were at cycling friend's house for dinner. We don't usually exchange heated words, but I was mad!
My cell phone is never on, unless I have to make a call when I am out of the house, which is maybe once a month? I don't know how to use any of the functions on the phone. In fact, I had just figured out my last phone, when I had to give it up. Needless to say, I don't text. I really don't feel the need to talk to people that often! I will call or email if I need to.

I guess I run a personal life that doesn't want to be constantly on call/available to other people. There have been uh..less than 6 times per year where my partner and I thought it would have been nice for both to have cell phones for a meet-up situation, non-emergency.

And my friendship circles never demands constant contact...I probably end up destroying good long friendships if it changed to pestering one another about trivial details in real time.

No I'm not techno-retrograde. Just not interested in jumping in on the on-call mode of 21st century life in my personal life. But I am curious what motivates people to text when the technology doesn't strike me as liberating as sitting down in front of a laptop....I did ask another employee who works in our dept. She's around 25 yrs...and doesn't text but uses her cell frequently. She gets complaints from family who wonder why she doesn't answer her phone. And it's non-emergency stuff.

When we are on vacation, he does like taking laptop along and ensuring hotel has Internet access. And when I get around to it I check email, stay on forums, like here. Non urgent stuff.