When Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it was a revolution in communication. For the first time, people could talk to each other over great distances almost as clearly as if they were in the same room. Nowadays, though, we increasingly use Bell's invention for taking photographs, accessing the internet, or watching video clips, rather than talking. Over the last two decades a new means of spoken communication has appeared: the mobile phone. The first real mobile telephone call was made in 1973 by Dr Martin Cooper, the scientist who invented the modem mobile handset . Within a decade, mobile phones became available to the public. The streets of modem cities began to feature sharp-suited characters shouting into _ . In Britain the mobile phone quickly became the same with the "yuppie", the new type of young urban professionals who carried the expensive handsets as status symbols. Around this time many of us said that we would never own a mobile phone. But in the mid-90s, something happened. Cheaper handsets and cheaper calling rates meant that, almost overnight, it seemed that everyone had a mobile phone. And the giant plastic bricks of the 80s had changed into smooth little objects that fitted nicely into pockets and bags. Moreover, people's timekeeping changed. Younger readers will be amazed to know that, not long ago, people made spoken arrangements to meet at a certain place at a certain time. But later Meeting time became approximate under the new order of communication: the Short Message Service (SMS) or text message. Going to be late? Send a text message! It takes much less effort than arriving on time, and it's much less awkward than explaining your lateness face to face and the text message has changed the way we write in English. Traditional rules of grammar and spelling are much less important when you're sitting on the bus, hurriedly typing "Will B 15mm late - C U @ the bar. Sorry! -)." Alexander Graham Bell would be amazed if he could see how far the science of telephony has progressed in less than 150 years. If he were around today, he might say "That's gr8! But I'm v busy rite now. Will call U 2nite." If you want to meet your friend at the school gate this evening, which of the following message can you send him?
Call U@ SKUg8 2nite. IM2BZ2CU 2nite. CU@ the bar g8 2nite. W84U@ SKUg8 2nite.