Counterclockwise: the rise of texting

23 December 2018
It has been 26 years since the first ever SMS was sent and now trillions of texts are sent out every year.

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AnonD-558092, 23 Dec 2018RCS is a mess. Some carriers have a proprietary profile whi... moreRCS is a mess because the lead operators are American ones, which love proprietary stuff. The reason for the US first is that Google wants it to be an alternative to iMessage, which is not really needed in most other places of the world. Most people just use WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat etc. in their Android phones. iPhone users use them too, because iPhone's market share is much smaller than in the US. It's admittedly a bit of a mess to have many messaging apps installed in your phone, but not too bad in the end.

So, there is little practical need for a new "standard" carrier-based system like RCS. Yes, there are countries where data is still expensive, but the operators in those countries are unlikely to implement a new system like RCS before others.

    I love that samsung face, it should become a separate standard emoji.

      Wow. SMS was way more different back then!

        • D
        • AnonD-762416
        • JbS
        • 23 Dec 2018

        AnonD-731363, 23 Dec 2018Samsung emoji is killing the whole system :-O But maaaan i... moreMobile phones were basically analogue radios in the beginning. The reason texting became a thing was because mobiles became digital.

          • R
          • Riyaz Madappally
          • ypc
          • 23 Dec 2018

          I am still using Nokia E63 as a second phone.

          I always think why can't smartphone manufacturers built a android qwerty phone with touch pad and all

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            • AnonD-82756
            • mq2
            • 23 Dec 2018

            Omg i loved my Blackberry's why can't they build a top spec qwerty machine again like the old bold 9900

              • J
              • JackTheiPhoneKiller
              • KIB
              • 23 Dec 2018

              Woah! You were just an "S" away from putting on one of the most click baity article ever.! 😁

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                • AnonD-731363
                • SH3
                • 23 Dec 2018

                Samsung emoji is killing the whole system :-O
                But maaaan i wonder. First call via phone was back in 1978 and the SMS came 15 years after what the heck :-)

                  That samsung emoji lol

                    I used to use emoticons without knowing their actual meaning when I was in high schoo. Someone sent me :-) and I replied :-( or (-: ... Everytime :-D

                      • L
                      • Luxor
                      • KZK
                      • 23 Dec 2018

                      Texting is great. Add voice message to that. Its getting harder to explain things with only text especially when you want to do technical things. People start doodling on pictures and writing on top of pictures to text people to explain things. Then, memes exist.

                        :-] .

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • y$g
                          • 23 Dec 2018

                          I remember when my first smartphone is BB Gemini.

                            AnonD-558092, 23 Dec 2018RCS is a mess. Some carriers have a proprietary profile whi... moreHeck, who uses these nowadays? Not that I don't use it now because I still do sometimes to text those who can't use mobile data (because they're not allowed to by their parents) but come on, apps like Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, WeChat etc don't use a lot of data, so even if u spend a lot of time on those apps it won't explode your data

                              Oh, how I love the miscommunication between different OS platforms...

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                                • .alpha
                                • rMV
                                • 23 Dec 2018

                                Everyone should just standardize around iOS emojis

                                  The Samsung one is too funny haha

                                    • I
                                    • Indonesia yay
                                    • Kx1
                                    • 23 Dec 2018

                                    Still no alternative for sms here. And our beloved operators never really support/push anything beyond archaic sms

                                    And no, anything which use data is not alternative

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                                      • AnonD-558092
                                      • 45}
                                      • 23 Dec 2018

                                      RCS is a mess. Some carriers have a proprietary profile which means only intracarrier communication. Others are using the universal profile but they deliberately cripple it to force intracarrier communication.