In 2003, only in the UK, 20.5 billion text messages were sent through cellphones, according to the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3422475.stm
In June the BBC reported that young users prefer texting to calls:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2985072.stm
I don't know the statistics for the rest of Europe or the US, but it seems that around the world the main use of cellphones is as a kind of "pocket telegraph" - because texting has a, well, "telegraphic" nature. And BTW, this was already manifest in online discourse ("BTW", IMHO, is an example of just that).
It's interesting how the latest technological fads bring back some aspects of older media. And as regards the telegraph, I'd like to recommend an excellent book, "The Victorian Internet", by Tom Standage. It helps to put things in (historical) perspective.
Luiz Carlos Baptista
lucabaptista@sapo.pt
lucabaptista@hotmail.com
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