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Science

Happy Bday 2 U: Texting turns 20

Neil Papworth, a young software engineer in England, sent out the world's first text message on Dec. 3, 1992. Twenty years later, texting has become one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication.

1st texter talks

12 years ago
Duration 5:47
Neil Papworth was 22 when he was the first to use SMS on Dec. 3, 1992. He talks with CBC's Heather Hiscox on the 20th anniversary of that pioneering day

On Dec. 3, 1992, Neil Papworth, a young software engineer in England, sent out the world's first text message.

Typing on a PCsince mobile phones weren't yet equipped with keyboardshe wrote a cheery message to Vodafone's Richard Jarvis. It read, simply: Merry Christmas.

Twenty years later, text messaging, or texting, has become one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication.

Canadians sent out a total of about 78 billion messages last year, or almost 2,500 texts every second. (iStock)

A study by the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that75 per cent of cellphone owners across 21 countries used their devices to send SMS (short message service) messages. Texting is especially common in Indonesia, Kenya and Lebanon.

Last year, Canadians sent outabout 78 billion messages, according to a study by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. That averages out to almost 2,500 texts sent every second.

The number of messages sent annually has nearly quadrupled since 2008 and is up nearly 20 times over 2006, when Canadians squeaked out only 4.3 billion texts.

Despite these numbers, some are predicting that the text-messaging phenomenon has already passed its peak.

The Guardian points out that the rise of smartphones and inexpensive data services have led to the popularity of data-based instant messaging, like WhatsApp or BlackBerry Messenger.