Jff-piggy Back on Texting Question

Ha! I'm 50, and I LOVE texting.
It's efficient, immediate and easy.

We have O. friend that can't get multiple recipient texts and it ALWAYS causes issues.

You have to roll with the times.
After all, When's the last time you got a letter? A fax? A telegram?

45 and I have been texting for years. All my friends text too.

I can only assume you are in that pocket where you are too old to have grown up with texting and too young to have kids that use texting as their primary away from home communication.

I think that until you have the need you will not appreciate the importance of text. Once you start using it you realize the huge convenience and no longer feel that the world has gone mad.

My husbands grandfather lived to be 103.

I once asked him, why he thought he was living so long? He said he thought he was born at just the right time to benefit from modern inventions and developments.

He never shunned or was frightened by progress.
He always embraced it. He loved educating himself and finding out what was going on on and what was up and coming.

Cars and planes,

Indoor electricity. The telephone in homes.

Indoor plumbing even in homes!

Refrigeration, medications, hospitals, vaccinations, heart surgery, replacement parts. Heart valves, etc.. .

Air conditioners in buildings then in vehicles.

The Television, VCR, DVD's Cable..

Cameras, film, slides, videos. CD's.

Microwave!

Cordless phones.. Then computers, laptops, internet.. .

And in the end cell phones.

He was always willing to give them a try and then pretty much master them..

He read 3 newspapers a day. He then would surf the net.

I loved that he did not grumble about change and progress. Instead he remembered the way it used to be and that progress had been good to him.. I learned a lot from his accepting attitude.

Well, I'm 38 and pretty on top of technology. But then again, I'm in the technology profession. I find technology fun and try to stay a step ahead of it all. I think it's all about what interests you. :)
Technology changes fast. My experience is that most people are slow to change, and that increases with age. However, that doesn't mean that people aren't willing to learn. Some just don't know where to start a lot of times.
Back in the day, I didn't text much because it was a cost per text. Now, with unlimited texting on my plan, I usually communicate that way when I can (unless I need an immediate response- then I call).
A lot of people worry about the fate of socialization because we don't talk face to face. The funny part is that I talk regularly in person to the people that text me the most.

I text my dad and he is almost 70. I don't think it is age related.

I'm 43. I love texting. My kids are 11, 13 and 16, so you can imagine, there's a lot of texting going on over hear.

In addition to what a lot of others have already said, there's an added benefit for me, personally. My 16yr old son is on the Autism Spectrum. He has an extremely low, deep voice (hard to hear and understand sometimes) and doesn't enjoy talking a lot (unless it's about movies, then he can go on forever, but that's a whole other thing). He IS, however, an excellent writer and opens up much more through his writing than his speaking. We've had conversations over text that wouldn't ever have happened otherwise. Texting has actually helped me get *closer* to my son. That alone, for me, makes any extra monthly payment worth it.

You're only as old as anyone who didn't grow up texting. I'm 43 and some of my older friends have been texting longer. I only have one person I routinely text, and a few I text occasionally. I would text more if I had a different type of phone probably. It's pretty much a preference. The same way some people hate carrying cell phones (me!! I'm now the ONLY ONE at a group dinner in my closest friend circle who doesn't have a phone OUT AND ON THE FREAKING TABLE FOR THE ENTIRE MEAL CHECKING FREAKING FACEBOOK AND EMAILS AND TEXTS AND SHOWING EACH OTHER VIDEOS AND ADS--GAG!!!!) I have a phone with me, but it doesn't come out of my purse unless I need to check for an important message or something or make a call (rare-it can usually wait 'til I'm home). Even if I hear it ring I won't interrupt someone's sentence to check to see who it is, I'll wait for a break. That's not because I'm old, it's just because I do not want to become glued to a phone.

My husband and I are older than you and we have a 19 yr old.

We all 3 text a LOT. We actually text more than talk on the phone. It is just how we are and how we do things. I personally do not know anyone who does not text.

Our total text message on our monthly bill is huge, as in a minimum of 3000+ each every month. We have unlimited data and text on our plans.

We run our own company and I have vendors, delivery drivers and customers who will text me to confirm transactions. Hubby uses the phone when he is making sales calls but we do use the text feature a LOT with our business and personal life.

I understand if someone does not want to use the feature for some reason but we tend to keep on top of technology, especially with our line of work.

It's less of an age thing for me-- I am a fan of the voice conversation.
"Can you/Do you....?"
"yes, no, maybe so"... my husband and I can wrap it up in one minute.
Meanwhile, if I'm scrolling through each and every letter to type, it will take longer. I am unwilling to use 'text language'. Not age, a sense of propriety and not wanting to dumb myself down. Again, personal preference.

I'm a bit curmudgeony, I suppose, but I can live with it, and my friends know who I am and what I'm about, so it's no big deal for them either.

I'm 52, text every day, and am a partner in a social media marketing company. Age has little to do with adapting to technology changes. We are either early adopters or not.

Resisting technological change is not a positive or helpful trait, IMO.

I resisted getting a texting phone, but I am so glad I finally gave in. It is just so much easier to be able to send a text, and if I am texting my husband at work I know I will not interrupt him because he will just get back to me when he has free time. And now he knows that if I am actually calling during work hours it is really important.

I'm the one who wrote the texting question. I'm 40, but most of my friends my age text, and my brother and sister in law text. I DO think the age of your CHILDREN would force you to be more involved in certain technology. For ex. if my kids were teens with cells and texted, I would certainly text as well.

For me it's about frugality - I dont see the need to spend the money on one more "gadget" or plan, and it's more so about the way technology and instant messaging is changing our behavior/politeness towardness those we interact with in numerous ways, including those we are using the device to communicate with and those we are ignoring while we use the device.

I am not sure that age by itself is going to be the main reason. I think it is going to have more to do with the circle of people a person communicates most with.

I have been texting for 2-3 years. My husband, really only for about 2. I am 45, so is he. My mom texts, but she PREFERS talking. She is 72. My Dad (also 72, next month) doesn't text at all... but they share a cell phone and she uses it and he really doesn't.

How did I get started texting? My SIL and BIL (husband's brother and his sister) would text me from time to time. SIL is almost 10 years younger and has been a cell phone cutting edge user for a long time. She is part of the group of people that got rid of her land line and only used cell phones early on. And upgrades every time she can. All her friends are the same way. BIL teaches at a tech school, and all of his students are younger and text. And he was constantly in communication with a cousin who is extremely tech oriented. So those 2 would text me whenever we were in town visiting, b/c it was easier to say "We are upstairs in the book store whenever you get here." when we were trying to rendezvous than to try to call us when we were trying to park the car. We could see it after we parked, rather than while potentially fighting with traffic.

Then my brother started doing the same when he came down here to visit. He turned 50 a few days ago. He has 3 teen daughters. So, 5 smartphones in their house, and you can bet it is much easier as a parent to teen girls to keep up with them if you text.

My other brother, he rarely does phones or texts. But his wife (who is mid 30s) texts freely.

I also text freely with a friend of mine (who is 51) rather than talk, except when we are in person. She will keep you on the telephone for an hour, but I can text her and say "what time are we meeting?" and be done. Where if I'd called, I'd still be on the phone with her as we pulled into the parking lot simultaneously. Her husband is like mine and doesn't use much tech. He will call, sometimes. But rarely uses his phone, and certainly not to text. They have 3 kids, all grown, who are big texters.

My husband started texting more when the younger guys he works with started communicating with him that way (setting up golf tee times, sending jokes and pictures of restaurant signs, etc). He hated texting when he had a plain flip phone. But now he has my old phone with a QWERTY keyboard and he texts me all the time. Just not EVER while driving.

He does it when I go shopping: "We are out of bananas." "I need beer."
And I do it when he is at work and can't be interrupted (he's an air traffic controller)... "I'm going into town, tell me what you want from ____ (to eat)."

He would never have started texting, except that he had friends who sent him texts. And he hated trying to respond, while he had old technology to do it on. He still doesn't want a smartphone, bc he doesn't want to understand touch technology or figure it out.

I text my kids. Heck, black Friday (Thursday?) my daughter was sending me text/ichats from my ipad of links to clothes/boots she found on amazon that she wanted for Christmas, while I was standing in a line for technology on sale.

Me? I'm a stay at home mom, with access to a landline almost all day, except when I am in the car. But I will text my SIL (who is at work) if I have a question for her, and when she gets a minute and looks at her phone, she'll text me back. I am not disturbing her at work. And she is able to send whatever info it is that only she has.

I also like that I don't have to respond instantly. Everyone knows that texting and driving is a no-no. I just don't even look while I am behind the wheel. If it is something crucially important to deal with, then people call rather than text.
But texting can be fun. And it can be very efficient. And fast.

But my mom is 72 and texts. I am 45 and text. My brother is 50 and texts (almost his sole communication--he never uses a phone to TALK). I don't think it is an age thing at all. But who you deal with who uses the technology.

It is a quick way to contact a lot of people with no voice. You get to tell 20 to 500 the immediate situation and go on about your business.

Gone are the days of teens on phones hogging up landlines and getting a constant beep in your ear because the phone was in use and you were tethered to a long cord that went around the house. Glad that is over, whew.

Technology is great but we don't communicate person to person verbally much anymore. We as a nation are forgetting how to speak to one and other face to face or over the phone with assuming which makes an A$$ out of most that you do text. Texting is now the cause of many more accidents while driving than ever before. I think of the person who falls in the fountain because they get so involved in texting they forget where they are.

I text to very close friends and I am a bit slow at it. I also like the keyboard thingy that most phones don't have anymore. The pictures are nice to have when you need it for an accident or something to jog your memory for an upcoming project.

The times have changed. I can remember the party phone line, the private line and now we have mass communication by cell phones. Yes I have come in from the dinosaur age to the high tech era. I do still have a landline for things like the EMS for help.

Have a great day all.

the other S.

PS Isn't this technology amazing!? Hubby and I have a plan that allows us to do all the stuff of texting, pictures, music, GPS, watching movies (he does). It allows us to keep in touch with both kids on their cells even if one is not in our circle without charges. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep in the loop even if you do so kicking and screaming. It is a sign of the times.

Despite having a job that requires heavy use of technology, I'm a late adopter of technology and use what works until it no longer works, then I move onto the next thing, learn how to use it, enjoy it, and the cycle continues. I'm 38. I moved to an android smartphone this year, which is actually my husband's old phone. He bought it over a year ago and never really liked it (I think it had a virus or something because after it was wiped out and given to me it's worked beautifully) so I gave him my upgrade in the spring and said he could get what he wanted and I would just take his phone. Now that I have it, I like using apps, etc. and wouldn't want to go back. Prior to this, I had an old-school BlackBerry, which was also a hand-me-down from my husband. I didn't feel that I needed it, but of course once I got used to having a keyboard and the ability to read e-mail and FB as well as text, there was no going back. Prior to that, I had a flip phone on which I could text from the number pad so I didn't text often because it was a pain.

I never feel "behind" in technology, I just don't feel the need to jump onto every new trend. Anything worth using will stick around for a couple of years - late adopters get things when the bugs have been worked out and the prices are lower.

ETA: My husband's grandmother, who passed away a few months ago at age 94, was very computer and technology savvy. When she moved into assisted living the first thing she asked for was her computer. We brought her Kindle to her whenever she was in the hospital so that she could keep up with her book, e-mail, and internet. She didn't use her cell phone much, but she did have one and did know how to text on it. She was a great example of someone who wasn't afraid to learn new things and embraced change.

i'm giggling at 35 being old.
:)
i held off texting for years. then, because i'm mildly phone-phobic and love anything that makes my life more convenient, i forced myself to learn. i'll never be a thumb-jockey and don't enjoy texting at all, but i sure do love how easy it makes it plan, and change plans, and notify people of plans.
the only people in my life who don't text at all are elderly (like REALLY elderly, 70s and above, not a kid like you!) and i don't expect them to learn.
but for an old bat like me (54), texting is a massive convenience.
:) khairete
S.

I am 42. A lot of my friends don't text much bc of our age and bc we all have kids who are a bit younger and don't have their own phones yet. But I have one good friend who has teenagers and bc of texting with them so much over the years she pretty much only texts! Over the last 2 years we are slowly getting into texting. My husband and I now text each other more often. My in-laws are starting to get into it. It really is a nice easy way to quickly ask someone something without feeling like you are bothering them. My husband loves it bc he hates calling people (shyness?) for some reason.

I am 42. I am all for technology, but I am also frugal. I do not own a cell phone or text because it is very expensive (in Canada) and it is an unnecessary expense. I also prefer to speak to someone rather than type a message on a super tiny little keyboard.

The only person I know who doesn't text at all is my 67 yo grandma.... She also doesn't internet. (Yes, I made Internet a verb. Lol.) though, I think I have her talked into getting a tablet. ;)

I do know several younger people who only use texting when necessary though, and I personally only have the lowest texting plan I could get. I think I send maybe 5-6 a month... Lol. (I'm 26.) I don't have anything against texting, really... But the only people I really text are my friends and family back home, so if I would rather call/FaceTime them since I never see them.

When everyone started texting I had one friend that would sent me texts so I would call her back. She stated "I texted because I don't have time to talk and get distracted, I just needed a yes or a no". Made sense but I had an old phone so I wouldn't text them back, I'd pick up the phone and call them every time.

She eventually stopped texting me until I got a smart phone.

Nope. I am an early adopter of technology, despite being an ancient 41, but I just can't get myself into texting, or even answering my mobile. Maybe I subconsciously feel uncomfortable about people having 24/7 access to me.

35 isn't old. In my opinion no one is old until their 70s

I am 27 and freaking hate it and avoid it as much as I can. I know a few teens who do that too. I just don't like it and it's just a preference. If someone texts me first I'll text back but most of the time I just call if it's me asking a question.

Nope, I'm an early adopter of technology, and I just refuse to pay for text messaging. Like I said in the other thread, it use to be free. I refuse to waste 10 bucks a month on it. The punker in me thinks it's a waste.

I think a lot of women our age don't because we haven't "graduated" to a smart phone. Now that I have one, I text. I found it easier to do so that I can remember the conversations, like when, where, how to get there, etc...