Mobile technology communications hit an interesting milestone this month when text messaging celebrated its 23rd birthday on December 3rd. Although the concept was conceived in 1984 by Friedhelm Hillenbrand and Bernard Ghillebaert in the Franco-German GSM cooperation, it was in 1992 when Neil Papworth, formerly of Sema Group Telecoms, keyed and sent the first message from his computer to Vodaphone’s Richard Jarvis. The text consisted of two words: Merry Christmas.
It is hard to conceptualize phones without keyboards like the one Jarvis used, as integrated as text and mobile phones are in society today…
- Running late to a meeting? Dash off a quick text.
- Spouse wants you to pick up some groceries. Here comes a list.
- Teen at a deafening concert? Connect for the ride home via SMS.
- Stores want you to shop. Text says come now, save now.
- Presidential candidate wants you to cast a vote. Strategically sends bulk messages.
So much of what we take for granted now emerged in the 1990s. Innovator Nokia manufactured the first phone with a full keyboard, the Nokia 9000i Communicator. Short codes were created. They are the phone numbers we often see connected to businesses like Target and Redbox, delivering marketing messages and prompting brand engagement. American Idol and AT&T partnered to use this tool in a big way — garnering more than 7.5 million votes in Season Two alone. Another 90s familiar advancement is T-9 Typing (aka Text on 9 keys). Tegic co-founder Cliff Kushler introduced this predictive text technology which is both extremely convenient when it nails what you want to say…and also makes for some pretty interesting text commentary when its prediction is not what you meant.
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From all of us at The Bill Police… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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