I started using text messages in Helsinki after I’d bought a Nokia cell phone and a prepaid mobile card on the second day of the trip. I went in to a mobile store, asked for the cheapest phone possible and was given what’s been to date my best phone yet. Ever since then I’ve been hooked. It seemed that after I returned from that trip to Europe, text messaging has made its way in to my communication landscape.
Sprint phones finally have text messaging integrated and messaging between different carriers finally works. I remember when I’d tried something liked two years ago to send a message from Sprint’s “short mail” service to somebody on Verizon, it came out as total garbage. Now I use it all the time to make plans with friends, check up on things and basically drop a more informal note on people. I’m in New Jersey right now, and it’s been a great way to keep in touch with people in different time zones. It’s pretty amazing since September of 2004 to now, how much the way I communicate has been changed by this decade old technology.