Wednesday, 29 November 2023
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDRIVEN Car GuideThe CountryPhoto SalesiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub
Voyager 2023 media awards
Subscribe

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

OMG: The text message turns 25 today

NZ Herald
2 Dec, 2017 09:16 PM2 mins to read
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Short Message Service (SMS).

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Short Message Service (SMS).

It was once at the cutting edge of technology – but now the SMS text message is turning 25 and facing an uncertain future.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Short Message Service (SMS).

On December 3, 1992, British software engineer Neil Papworth sent the world's first ever text. It went to a fellow executive at Vodafone, simply saying "Merry Christmas".

LOL: Ironically the recipient could not respond to the message.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Richard Jarvis, attending a Vodafone party near Newbury, Berkshire, could read the message (which had been sent from a computer) but he couldn't send a reply because his hulking, 2kg Orbitel 901 mobile phone was incapable of doing so.

Within a year Nokia had introduced the first handset supporting SMS – and the humble text message went on to revolutionise the way the world communicated.

However these days the technology has since been usurped by free messaging services such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat.

Swinburne University's Belinda Barnet, who specialises in the history of technology, says no one could have expected how popular text messages would become.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

"It was kind of an add-on to the cellular technology at the time and nobody expected it to become the main source of communication," the SMH reported.

"It changed the face of communication. Prior to SMS, to communicate with someone you at least had to answer the phone and talk to them or you had to be sitting at your desk and open an email."

And while the text message has been credited with helping bring people together the technology has also been used for the opposite.

Celebrities such as Katy Perry, Jennifer Aniston and Charlie Sheen were all given the bad news their relationships were over via text.

Related articles

Entertainment

Denise Richards reduces Sheen's child support payments

13 Aug 11:46 PM
Saveshare

Share this article

facebookcopy linktwitterlinkedinredditemail

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

BusinessUpdated

Live: OCR on hold, no cuts until mid-2025; Orr speaks to media

29 Nov 01:00 AM
BusinessUpdated

Power back on after outage in central Auckland hits businesses

29 Nov 12:17 AM
Premium
Business

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare ups dividend

28 Nov 11:34 PM
Premium
Business

Ryman selling two sites, stopping work at three others

28 Nov 11:06 PM

Navigating the ‘decade of uncertainty’

sponsored

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Live: OCR on hold, no cuts until mid-2025; Orr speaks to media

Live: OCR on hold, no cuts until mid-2025; Orr speaks to media

29 Nov 01:00 AM

The Reserve Bank warned that inflation remained too high.

Power back on after outage in central Auckland hits businesses

Power back on after outage in central Auckland hits businesses

29 Nov 12:17 AM
Premium
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare ups dividend

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare ups dividend

28 Nov 11:34 PM
Premium
Ryman selling two sites, stopping work at three others

Ryman selling two sites, stopping work at three others

28 Nov 11:06 PM
How to make a win-win-win from waste
sponsored

How to make a win-win-win from waste

About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2023 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP