We are all familiar with the magic of SMS, right? A unique phenomenon that began more than two decades ago and is still popular, SMS is considered an important feature of a mobile. From simple phones to smartphones, every mobile has a built-in SMS function and therefore messaging is one of the most used icons in your mobile phone menu. However, SMS as we know it today is very different from how it was actually introduced. Having undergone several changes, SMS marked several milestones in more than twenty years of existence.
For those of you who don’t know, here’s a sneak peek of the fun facts about SMS communication:
Locators inspired by the invention of SMS
Before SMS became popular, people used to rely on pagers. However, the sad part about pagers was that you could only send numbers and no messages. It was in this situation that experts identified the need to be able to send messages and worked to invent the SMS function.
First message sent in 1993
Initially, the mobile phone companies never believed that people would not be so happy with the texting feature, especially when they could talk face to face. Therefore, the use of SMS was restricted to internal communication only. But, little by little, things began to change and the first official SMS came out in 1993.
Becomes popular in 1999
In the early years, users of a particular mobile phone service provider could send SMS only to numbers registered with that service provider. However, a few years later, in 1999, it was also possible to send SMS to rival telephone networks. It was then that people recognized the power of SMS and the convenience that this feature facilitated. Soon enough SMS became a sensation!
It is the second most popular feature used in mobile phones.
Yes! Believe it or not, text messaging is the second most popular feature used on mobile phones. The first place is still reserved for the mobile’s time control function.
The length of the word was decided by a postcard.
Postcards don’t have much room to write on and are meant to notify people. Even SMS was similarly designed with a 160-character limit so people could send all the basic information instead of describing the situation in detail.
People vote on the texts.
It was in 2003 that the media kids realized the power of text messaging when a European singing competition introduced a unique feature where the audience could vote for their favorite contestants via text message. It was an instant hit and continues to be used even today.