20 year anniversary of the text message, remember your first one?

donegal_road · 03-12-2012 01:05PM #1

just spotted that it is the 20th anniversary of the text message

Link to article

I remember the first time I ever got a text message it was in 1999, I was living in Crumlin, and I got a text from a friend who was at the KCR pub looking for a lift. I think a text cost 5p back then. A few of us spent the evening texting everyone we knew about this new discovery

martyeds · 03-12-2012 01:08PM

My first text was something like hsssstwh%29m..........reinv iefsj;flsssiuqn.
Took me ages to get the hang of the oul texting lark.

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 03-12-2012 01:08PM

1998 was mine. Probably something stupid like "Hi".

Now I have lengthened it to "Howdy", not bad for 14 years.

RichT · 03-12-2012 01:08PM

"Who the hell is this?"

Jack breen · 03-12-2012 01:10PM

I sent my first one about 1996, i had a Nokia 2110.

corktina · 03-12-2012 01:10PM

Mine was "Dad, can you get me some credit?"

AnonoBoy · 03-12-2012 01:11PM

Hlp plz am strnd n islnd nd rning out of crdt.

seamus · 03-12-2012 01:12PM

I think my first was texting a mate saying something like, "Hey, I got a phone, here's me number". Back in early 2000. He'd gotten a mobile for Xmas (though he didn't want one) but none of us had one, so I decided to get one a few weeks after.

SMS made the mobile, I reckon. They would eventually have become as ubiquitous as they are now, but without SMS I think a lot of people wouldn't have bothered getting a phone for quite a while. Even now I don't get many calls, my texts outnumber my calls by about 30 to one.

py2006 · 03-12-2012 01:39PM

I remember when text messages were free!! They didn't predict how popular they would become. Eventually they started charging, but for some reason those of us who had 088 numbers continued to have free texts while 087 people had to pay. Until they eventually figured out how to charge. Good days!

snowgal · 03-12-2012 01:42PM

I remember getting my first text message. This thing just seemed to appear on my screen saying Meath are the Champions, Trevor Giles is King! I honestly thought my phone was a genius that it knew I was a Meah fan and a Trevor Giles fan, I was freaked for about a week! Then my brother asked me did I get his text message, so disappointed....

Lumbo · 03-12-2012 01:45PM

First text I ever received was "it's you're".

Grammer Nazi :rolleyes:

minidazzler · 03-12-2012 01:47PM

Lumbo wrote: »

First text I ever received was "it's you're".

Grammer Nazi :rolleyes:

But you never forgot that lesson, so you have no excuse for fcuking it up.

davet82 · 03-12-2012 01:56PM

I am in a meeting, please call me back at

certifiedcrepe · 03-12-2012 01:59PM

I don't remember exactly, but I do remember that it had no spaces at all as I had not realised there was a space key. In my defence I was on,y about 6 or 7 on my mothers phone.

Duggy747 · 03-12-2012 02:00PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7b8b3501D8

kincsem · 03-12-2012 02:10PM

Never got one. Don't have a phone. Have I missed anythng?

Tea_Bag · 03-12-2012 02:16PM

I dont remember my first texts, but i do remember changing my message centre number to vodafone kenya or something to get free texts. every time they closed the hole we'd find a new one.

Immaculate Pasta · 03-12-2012 02:17PM

donegal_road wrote: »

I remember the first time I ever got a text message it was in 1999, I was living in Crumlin, and I got a text from a friend who was at the KCR pub looking for a lift.

So did you pick your friend up from the pub or not?

Don't leave us hanging.

laugh · 03-12-2012 02:26PM

Got a mble fone its gr8 lol. kbi.

Chuck Stone · 03-12-2012 02:35PM

'I can see you but you can't see me'

Duggy747 · 03-12-2012 02:37PM

I remember you could send reminders from the Nokia 3310s to other phones and the message wouldn't have a number to it so the person had no clue where it came from.

Twas great for sending death threats :pac:

Father Damo · 03-12-2012 02:45PM

seamus wrote: »

SMS made the mobile, I reckon. They would eventually have become as ubiquitous as they are now, but without SMS I think a lot of people wouldn't have bothered getting a phone for quite a while. Even now I don't get many calls, my texts outnumber my calls by about 30 to one.

I think the same about smartphones. Until one year ago they were merely the mark of the wanker/ poser or Apple fanboy loser- a bit like society judged mobiles until about 1999, if you had one you were either a businessman/ professional who needed one, or you were a wanker who thought you needed one. tbh if it was not for the existance of Facebook smartphones would have never taken off. Apart from checking FB and the news they really have no purpose.

Nowadays texts are so awkward to send on smartphones I reckon most people prefer calling.

recyclops · 03-12-2012 02:48PM

sent a message to a girl in school just class, cue flirting throughout the day then us going home for " lunch"

Only me and her had a mobile in the class and i only knew she got one as our mothers knew each other and they swapped the numbers so we had a nujmber in the phone.

thanks ma

seamus · 03-12-2012 02:49PM

Father Damo wrote: »

tbh if it was not for the existance of Facebook smartphones would have never taken off. Apart from checking FB and the news they really have no purpose.

Uh...surfing the web? Listening to music? Playing games?

That's primarily what I used mine for, FB and the news are incidental.

Nowadays texts are so awkward to send on smartphones I reckon most people prefer calling.

I disagree. With a full keyboard and free messaging, I would say smartphones have only added more fuel to the fire in respect of messaging. It's even quicker now to send a two-line text than ring someone. You'd have the text written and sent by the time the call connected.

Run_to_da_hills · 03-12-2012 02:51PM

First text message was on a Panasonic G600 in 1998 from a mate. Wasn't used to the phone menu and took me ages how to figure it out and reply to it.

Tea_Bag · 03-12-2012 02:51PM

Father Damo wrote: »

I think the same about smartphones. Until one year ago they were merely the mark of the wanker/ poser or Apple fanboy loser- a bit like society judged mobiles until about 1999, if you had one you were either a businessman/ professional who needed one, or you were a wanker who thought you needed one. tbh if it was not for the existance of Facebook smartphones would have never taken off. Apart from checking FB and the news they really have no purpose.

Nowadays texts are so awkward to send on smartphones I reckon most people prefer calling.

you obviously dont own a smartphone.

Where To · 03-12-2012 03:03PM

Aye no bother.

I'm a man of few words.

Father Damo · 03-12-2012 03:03PM

seamus wrote: »

Uh...surfing the web? Listening to music? Playing games?
.

With the battery life on the vast majority of them, hardly.

Tea_Bag- of course I own one. And apart from checking FB, or checking the news (particularly the football results in work, as Im in Australia) really they have little else going for them.

Father Damo · 03-12-2012 03:05PM

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

First text message was on a Panasonic G600 in 1998 from a mate. Wasn't used to the phone menu and took me ages how to figure it out and reply to it.

YOU use mobiles?

Really?

Despite the tracking capability?

mod:
banned.

GAAman · 03-12-2012 03:16PM

donegal_road wrote: »

just spotted that it is the 20th anniversary of the text message

Link to article

I remember the first time I ever got a text message it was in 1999, I was living in Crumlin, and I got a text from a friend who was at the KCR pub looking for a lift. I think a text cost 5p back then. A few of us spent the evening texting everyone we knew about this new discovery

Same here, even to the point of Crumlin

The first one I got said "Test"

Remember when you could change the message centre settings to get free text messages, thems were the days!

AnonoBoy · 03-12-2012 03:40PM

Duggy747 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7b8b3501D8

"Hey I saw Run Lola Run, let's make an ad that's a pale imitation."
- "Ok - what'll the ad be for?"
"Who cares? Whoever comes through the door next is getting my Run Lola Run ad."
- "Cool. Let's order Chinese, do some cocaine and high-five each other!"

20 year anniversary of the text message, remember your first one?

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