You know that texting doesn't just happen on phones, right? Kids can (and do) download a free texting app to any wi-fi-enabled device – iPod Touches, iPads, Android tablets, etc. – and text with their friends for hours without racking up any Verizon, AT&T or other mobile carriers' charges. For the same reason that they're popular in countries where SMS, or text messaging, costs a lot, they're … [Read more...] about Texting apps taking over the world, it seems
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Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
There seems to be something automatic about responding immediately when a text comes in. Maybe it's because a text is just part of a conversation. But whatever that reflex is, it needs an override when we're driving – an override either in the software between our ears or some "I'm not available right now" software in our phones. AT&T has an app for that called "DriveMode" that sends a text … [Read more...] about Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
Instagram: Teens’ alternative to texting, FB?
Shades of social media researcher danah boyd's finding on teens' "social steganography" (hiding in plain sight): The Daily reports (about halfway into a 2-min. video) that, because so many parents are now monitoring their kids on Facebook and checking their texts, "an enormous amount of teenagers" are using Instagram to take random photos just so they can chat privately in the comments under them. … [Read more...] about Instagram: Teens’ alternative to texting, FB?
Software that blocks texting while driving
Thirty states have banned texting while driving, but the bans are tough to enforce. So two companies, WebSafety Inc. in Texas and Manage Mobility in Georgia are partnering to provide software to government agencies and businesses" for disabling texting, email, and Web browsers on cellphones while cars are in motion, USATODAY reports. For people who want to impose a little self-discipline on … [Read more...] about Software that blocks texting while driving
Why do kids text so much?
I enjoyed these observations of a mobile tech pundit on why his 13-year-old granddaughter, Caroline – who he says sends 200+ text messages a day, seven days a week – and her peers are so into texting.... First there's the urgency/immediacy factor, J. Gerry Purdy writes: The little trill that sounds when a message has arrived creates a sense of urgency to respond that becomes a chain reaction … [Read more...] about Why do kids text so much?