Their thumbs sure have to be sore.Two central Pennsylvania friends spent most of March in a text-messaging record attempt, exchanging a thumbs-flying total of 217,000.
For one of the two, that meant an inches-thick itemized bill for $26,000.
Nick Andes, 29, and Doug Klinger, 30, were relying on their unlimited text messaging plans to get them through the escapade, so Andes didn't expect such a big bill. “It came in a box that cost $27.55 to send to me,” he said Tuesday. He said he “panicked” and called T-Mobile, which told The Associated Press it had credited his account and was investigating the charges.
The two Lancaster-area residents have been practically nonstop texters for about a decade since they attended Berks Technical Institute together. That led Andes to search for the largest monthly text message total he could find posted online: 182,000 sent in 2005 by Deepak Sharma in India.
Andes and Klinger were able to set up their phones to send multiple messages. During a February test run they found they could send 6,000 or 7,000 messages on some days, prompting the March messaging marathon. “Most were either short phrases or one word, ‘LOL’ or ‘Hello,’ things like that, with tons and tons of repeats,” said Andes, reached by phone.
Andes sent more than 140,000 messages, and Klinger sent more than 70,000 to end the month with a total of just over 217,000, he said.
A spokesman for Guinness World Records didn’t immediately return messages asking whether it would be certified as a record.
This story leads me to ask a simple question: Don’t they have jobs? Or, maybe one more question: You mean their wives tolerated these two guys texting all the time?
I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to keep up with emails and Facebook messages, much less sending and receiving 1,000s of text messages. Then again, and this will show my age I suppose, I don’t do text messaging. I just don’t see the point in it. I’d rather talk to the person on the phone or even email. Why send a note over your cell phone? If is really necessary to text them “hello?” Is that necessary? Or, how about “U OK”. Sorry. I just don’t see it.
What about you? Big texter? What am I missing? And, in a month’s time, what’s the most texts you have sent? Be honest!
Steve: I am not a texter, and I hate even add, yet. I would prefer to talk to people than text or twitter (whatever the heck that is anyway). I am going to refrain from texting for as long as I can however to get a hold of a teen you almost have to text and not email or call. I would literally croak if I saw this bill (or any bill like it). honest? NONE
ReplyDeleteand I thought my teen-aged daughter texted too much! Egads!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Asia, the office accountant called me the "Text Champ". That was because it was a whole lot cheaper to send texts into or out of China that it was to call. So, since I had LOTS of communication as part of my official duties, much could be handled by text, if one of us was "on the go". I think they probably only reached the 500 per month range though, even at the height of the texting.
Nowadays, sometimes I find it easier to convey a short message via sms than it is to stop and have a conversation. So, I get and receive maybe 10 per day right now. Of course, that would add up to 300 per month.
I don't text and I don't twitter... I have to draw the line somewhere. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteHeidi
Texting isn't evil. Texting allows me to communicate with people that I am not comfortable calling - there are some calls that just don't feel right and take way too much time. As well, some male-female interactions are more comfortable with text because it removes the need for "conversing" with a lady besides my wife.
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous, I admit, but neither should we throw out the baby with the bath water. Why, for instance, are we writing on a blog instead of sitting in a coffee shop together? Y'all know the answer, and it's the same one for texting.