One reason that the SMS is still struggling in the US, I'm sure, is the thumb-typing issue. It really can be a pain to type out those messages on the increasingly tiny phone-pads. But, of course a whole new dialect has sprung up from SMS use that minimizes the amount of key-strokes. In fact, a student in the UK recently turned in a paper that used SMS short hand, "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 : kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc." The teacher was worried that this signals a threat to the literacy of British youth. I'm all for SMS. And on Friday night discovered one reason it beats a voice-call: noisy bars. I was trying to arrange a meeting with Andrew while in a very noisy bar. TXT was the only way that I could communicate my location and intent.

If you have a cell-phone, and are in my phone's contact list, don't be surprised if you get an SMS from me. And if it is that big of a deal, I'll give you the dime you _may_ pay for an incoming SMS. If you want, send me an SMS.