Just as most of us have gotten comfortable with email, whether we access it from our desktop, Blackberry or WiFi hot spot, the next generation moves on past to find even faster, more efficient ways of communicating. This paper will show you how instant messaging and text messaging are hot today and will be ubiquitous tomorrow. Get ready.

E-mail

In the beginning, E-mail was simply a file created by a single user and then left in another user’s directory, much like leaving a note on someone’s desk. In those days, you couldn’t send the files between computers. E-mail as we know it today was created by Ray Tomlinson in 1972 when he created SMTP, a protocol that could not only send text files from one computer to another, but could also find the recipient on that computer (which is what e-mail is). The “@”sign was chosen to denote the recipient’s computer. Described by Internet pioneer Jon Postel as a “nice hack,” it has lasted to this day. In all the things that t he World Wide Web offers, email remains the most important and widely used application of the Internet. With more than 600 million people internationally using email, it is the main “killer app” of the Internet. That said, a younger generation of users who are growing up on the Internet find email to be slow and laborious. They are adopting other means of electronic communication to keep up with the increased pace of life that has become synonymous with growth in computing power and capability.

Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging (typically abbreviated IM) is a computer-based service that enables users to communicate in real time over the Internet. Basically a typed version of a telephone conversation, IM facilitates faster communications than email primarily because the system lets the user know whether the person they want to chat with is available. This is accomplished through use of a “buddy list” which contains the names of friends, colleagues or others on the user’s list of contacts. When the user is logged onto the IM system, the buddy list appears along with an indicator of whether each buddy is available or not. If a contact is available, the user can initiate a chat session or conversation, with that person by simply typing in the message and hitting “send.” The recipient receives the message immediately and can respond at once, creating a conversation-style atmosphere.

Because of its immediate, unobtrusive nature, IM is ideal in a work environment where a colleague may not want to interrupt someone with a phone call when only a simple, quick response is needed. Recipients do not need to respond, and can turn on “busy” or “away” features when they are not accepting messages. IM activity can be tracked through logs. Some providers even enable users to index, search and re-use messaging history. For example, when writing in Microsoft® Word or using Word as your e-mail editor, you can quickly search your MSN Messenger conversation history for messages that contain a term you have typed in your document. Smart tag technology allows you to insert the text of IM conversations directly into your document.

However, IM is no more secure than email, and can be susceptible to an activity called “spim,” which is IM’s equivalent to spam. Spim is created by bots (automatic computers) that harvest IM screen names from the Internet and simulate a human user by sending spam to the screen names via an instant message. The spim typically contains a link to a Web site that the spimmer is trying to market.

Finally, not all IM systems are interchangeable and able to share messages, so groups of users will want to agree to use a single system. IM systems typically need a host server and there are often limits on how many users they can host.

Instant messaging is a form of online chat, but an IM conversation is generally not considered equivalent to a chat room. While both involve sending real time text messages, IM activity involving more than two people at a time is usually restricted to the user’s buddy list, while chat rooms have more of a wide open nature. IM should also not be referred to as a forum, which is run over the Web and does not take place in real time.

Popular IM systems include Microsoft’s .NET Messenger Service, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Excite/Pal, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, iChat, ICQ, Jabber, Skype, Trillian and Yahoo! Messenger.

Texting

Short message services (SMS), also known as texting or text messaging, is a cell phone function that allows users to send real time text-based messages to other cell phone users. This is done by using the cell phone key pad to tap out the message. The recipient can be selected from the cell phone contact list or recent calls, or can be reached by typing in their cell phone number or email address. Phone plans typically allow text messages to be sent for a fixed charge for each message sent or received (usually around $0.10 per message), or may be bundled to allow a larger number or unlimited messaging for a set monthly price. Texting is especially popular among young urbanites, who enjoy SMS due to its relatively low cost and ease of use in comparison to other forms of communicating. Text messaging is also convenient because you don’t have to be at your computer to send a message to someone’s email address.

However, texting is currently far more popular overseas than in the US. Around the world, growth has been rapid due to a variety of reasons. For example, in developing lands, cell towers are easier and more cost-effective to install than traditional land lines and one installation can cover an entire region. Also, people in countries other than the US simply don’t own as many PCs on which to send instant messages and email. Finally, the network effect is significant – more users create more users. According to Wikipedia, 17 billion text messages were sent in 2000, while the next year the volume increased to 250 billion messages. Only three years later, text messaging activity doubled to the rate of 500 billion messages per year, representing almost 100 text messages for every person in the world. Texting is particularly popular in Europe (excluding France), Asia, Australia, China and New Zealand.

In the US, the average cell phone user sends fewer than 50 text messages per year. The reasons for this are varied. Many users have unlimited "mobile-to-mobile" voice minutes, high monthly minute allotments or unlimited service. Moreover, push to talk services offer the instant connectivity of SMS and are typically unlimited. Furthermore, the integration between competing providers and technologies necessary for cross-network text messaging has only been available recently. However the recent addition of AT&T-powered SMS voting on the television program American Idol has introduced many Americans to SMS, and usage is on the rise. Marketing companies such as Limbo 41414, located on the Web at http://www.41414.com, have discovered the power of promoting products through text message based games. PayPal Mobile service allows account holders to send money via text message to anybody who has a phone number or email address. Retailers are also benefiting from PayPal’s Text to Buy service, with which consumers can purchase CDs, clothing and other products with a simple text message. In the real estate space, CellSigns’ Text-for-Email solution allows real estate professionals to provide a number to which buyers can send a text message to receive property information. As more service providers become aware of the power and ease of text messaging, usage in the US should expand as fast as it has around the world.

A practical consideration of texting is that it is a short message service, usually allowing only up to 160 characters (typically) in a message. Some providers will simply truncate messages that are too long, while others will break it up into multiple messages or discard or bounce the message back to you. The need to accommodate character limitations and small keypads has lead to the development of SMS language, or txt talk, an abbreviated form of language that uses the least number of characters needed to put across a comprehensible message. Punctuation and grammar are typically ignored so that an entire thought can be sent in one message.

Messaging Options

The following charts show various messaging options you have with the following communication tools: cell phone, PDA, desktop, notebook, tablet and other portable devices.

What each device can do:

How devices communicate with each other:

This list does not include hybrid devices such as Smartphones or devices like the T-Mobile Sidekick. These hybrid devices for the most part have not gone mainstream and it is unknown what amount of computing power they will finally possess.