Texting Turns 20 Years Old Although it became a widely used form
of communication only recently, texting is actually a decades-
old technology. In fact, it celebrated its 20th birthday on
Monday, which makes it older than most of the kids who use it.
The first text ever was sent on Dec. 3, 1992 by British software
engineer Neil Papworth. He sent a message to Richard Jarvis,
director of the telecommunications company Vodafone, that simply
read, “Merry Christmas.” Since then, texting has exploded in
use, with an estimated 2.2 trillion texts sent a year in the US
alone, and 8.6 trillion sent globally. Texting is expected to be
a $150 billion industry in 2013. Teens by far have embraced the
technology more than most. According to research, 75% of US
teens text, with an average of 60 messages sent a day. Texting
among teens easily beats out other forms of communication,
including phone calls, social networking and face-to-face
conversations. Still, texting is gaining ground among older
people. Adults 55 and older a