OMG, Txts R 20.

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of the first text message, sent from the computer of a British engineer to a colleague on his Vodafone mobile phone on 3 December 1992. Since then, texting has become a nice little earner for the phone companies (bringing in more than $500bn and is forecast to generate another $1tn over the next seven years due to growth in mobile banking, charitable giving and other donations). Texting also creates another Dumb Way to Die. According to Saturday’s Financial Times, “sending a msg while driving is 2x as dangerous as dui.” : - @

Quote of the Week

Thanks to WarOnTheMotorist (enjoy the irony) for the link in yesterday’s post about fear of the unknown when it comes to getting around, and the general, usually unremarked (why?) hassle of driving. As well as the post, I particularly enjoyed the comment from BruceMcF in the US, who noted, “Here in the States, it (the obsession with driving) tends to break down when you hit the smartphone generation. Then the portable electronic gear that you have and the length of your follow list on various social media are competing status symbols, and, (stand by for that Quote of the Week),
“Driving is something that makes it tricky to respond to a text.”