http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/09/23/quick-bites-americans-text-more-than-they-talk-2/ Wed, 16 May 2012 21:42:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/09/23/quick-bites-americans-text-more-than-they-talk-2/comment-page-1/#comment-382 Daniel Tunkelang Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:44:42 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=299#comment-382 Fair point--the headline is trying too hard. And maybe I'm also stretching to make a simple point, which is that natural language is overkill for many tasks, from ordering at Starbucks (http://www.wikihow.com/Order-at-Starbucks) to letting someone know you'll be back in a few minutes (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BRB). Over time, I'd expect more utilitarian communication needs to favor lower-overhead protocols like abbreviated text messaging over natural language voice calls. Fair point–the headline is trying too hard. And maybe I’m also stretching to make a simple point, which is that natural language is overkill for many tasks, from ordering at Starbucks (http://www.wikihow.com/Order-at-Starbucks) to letting someone know you’ll be back in a few minutes (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BRB). Over time, I’d expect more utilitarian communication needs to favor lower-overhead protocols like abbreviated text messaging over natural language voice calls.

]]> http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/09/23/quick-bites-americans-text-more-than-they-talk-2/comment-page-1/#comment-381 Steve Cohen Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:34:58 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=299#comment-381 The conclusion is premature; the CNET headline should have read "Americans text more *often* than they place calls." I suspect the duration (and information content) of the SMS messages are substantially lower than the calls. The conclusion is premature; the CNET headline should have read “Americans text more *often* than they place calls.” I suspect the duration (and information content) of the SMS messages are substantially lower than the calls.

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