In the old days, you had to write a letter to somebody if you wanted to get their attention and you didn't live within shouting distance.
In the real old days, you might have had to send the letter by ship or other long distance courier. It may have been months before you got a response. That meant you had to think long and hard about what you put into that letter. And when you got a letter back, it was usually long and thought out, giving you something to read over and over again.
This went on for some time.
When the phone was invented, people were a bit suspicious. How in the world could somebody's voice be transmitted over wires? Would it be like sending a telegram? Would you have to speak in short words and truncated sentences? Would you have to say “Stop” after finishing every sentence?
Luckily, it worked out pretty well.
More and more people started using phones, and thanks to the built in law of economic expansion, they became cheaper and cheaper. Pretty soon, they were in everybody's house and were pretty affordable. Things couldn't get any better.
But they did.
Oh yes they did. The Internet was invented. People could now send emails to each other. This presented and interesting development. The Internet and email became very popular before the widespread use of cell phones had peaked. That meant that people got off the phones, and onto email.
Then cell phones hit the market, and people started talking about.
They would call each other from various places around town, and talk about their plans. They would email each other after calling. This was pretty clunky, because the screens were very small, and if you wanted to send a text message, you had to use the numeric keypad.
This led to messages being like they were back in the days of telegrams.
Then the smart phone was invented. It's quite odd when you think about it. An advanced device designed for voice communication. How do people respond?
By going back to text communication. Less people calling, and more people texting. Texting just like they used to send telegrams. Short, truncated sentences.
Of course, these are very useful. You don't have to pay through the nose like you did with telegrams.
You can send them from church, from the movies, and even from class. Quiet, effortless communication that is to the point. What's better, unlike phone calls, you have time to think of a good response. If some weird guy calls you and asks you out, you have to think up something good on the spot.
Through a text, you can take an hour or so and come up with a plausible excuse not to meet with him.
As you can see, texting, while seemingly unadvanced compared to the old fashioned buy telegram subscribers, actually has plenty of advantages. Make use of them, and improve your life.