[gorilla]

Here's a thought for you. Having had a smartphone for some time now i'm used to accessing my email from my mobile. While this isn't ideal it is perfectly functional for the most part i.e. Written conversation. However, with the increase of the amount of included sms within certain tariffs i've noticed that i very rarely send email from my phone. I find it easier and quicker to text. Is sms threatening email? Is there a futue rival to sms that would be a serious challenger to email? I often find that i recieve an answer sooner after a text than i do with an email. What do you guys think, is written communication continuing to evolve?

[Ben]

Email between push-email devices is pretty good because the recipient is going to get the email flash up right away, like a text message would. However, in the 'real world' text messaging is far superior because of its immediacy.

Now, whether that could allow text messaging to threaten emails dominance in Internet terms seems unlikely. Though the iPhone, with its conversational SMS feature, would certainly seem yet another step in the right direction for SMS dominance.

At the end of the day I don't think email and SMS pose much of a threat to each other. Email is great in the office, great for 'writing a letter' and great for sending documents. Text messages are very short and, depending on the handset, a little disjointed, but they're immediate at both ends and feature delivery reporting.

I don't doubt that written communication continues to evolve. I only wonder what technological marvel will next make its mark!

[Hands0n]

Telex or Teleprinters were pretty much killed off by eMail systems. The ability to route infintely was probably the root cause. Although eMail could never substitute Telex's immediacy where character by character the other end could see what you were typing.

Will SMS do to eMail what the latter did to Telex? I doubt it very much. These two mediums co-exist very well and each has its own niche and capabilities. I do not think that I can see the day where SMS was a fair game competitor for eMail. Perhaps what I do see is that long-messaging becomes the norm and the networks stop charging us for [multiples of] 160 characters a pop. These days I tend to use MMS for long messages - much much cheaper than long-message SMS. But a lot of people don't think to use MMS like that. Also, did you know you could use MMS to send to an eMail address?

[gorilla]

A few good points. The point of this thread was to highlight how my own habits have changed. When i started work (all those years ago back in 2000) i used email all the time. Now a days i can count how many daily emails i send on both hands. The rise of social networking has helped this, but so has mobile technology. I do envisage communication on a mobile getting better, that is something comparable to push email but in sms / mms fashion. I must admit that i rarely use mms purely because i get so many inclusive sms. Of course all of this requires better battery life! On a different note, i'm posting from the n95, hence the crude formatting. I'm in manchester / cheshire this weekend and 3's coverage is spot on. 3.5g anyone?

[Hands0n]

I use the browser on my T-Mobile Web 'n Walk-equipped Nokia N95 very often on both 3G/3.5G and WiFi. It is hard to tell the difference using the built-in capabilities. Of course, when using the N95 as a UMTS modem then the HSDPA (3.5G) makes a huge difference.

I also use the GMail Symbian (Java) client for my real mail, and that is fine too. It all works very well.

Picking up on my earlier comments - I also use SMS and MMS interchangeably as the T-Mobile FlexT tariff makes it a doddle to do so (10p per SMS, 20p per MMS - do the math with how much you can get per message type). I also use MMS to send eMail to some of my correspondents - they are always a bit surprised!

As an all round mobile communicator - the N95 coupled with the T-Mobile package is a dream come true. An excellent tariff, an excellent handset, all round communications in your hand that actually works, and works very well indeed.

Picking up on your point - my own communications habits are changed also. I am infintely more reachable - although that is not always the blessing it seems. But more importantly, I can reach out to others and also access information like never before.

It is empowering in many ways, and a bit life changing too. Communicating is one of our prime skills and doing it so well sets us apart from every other lifeform on this planet. I think that is why we humans [on a planetary scale] are taking so eagerly to the Internet and Mobile Communications.

[Ben]

WRT MMS for long messages - remember that multipart SMS will still be deducted from an inclusive contract allowance, where as MMS are almost always chargeable on all networks (T-Mobile Flext may include MMS... but probably at a cost of about 3x texts anyway?). Unfortunately I can't imagine the networks not charging for multiple parts of a text, I think it'd be very difficult to implement and hard for the networks to bill for given that they're billed per SMS. At least MMS are reliable now - well, more reliable - you've only got to cast your mind back a few years and the damn things used to get lost as often as they arrived!

Got to love SMS, so simple and effective.

[Hands0n]

T-Mobile Flext may include MMS... but probably at a cost of about 3x texts anyway?.

Actually no :) FlexT tariff says Voice 20p per minute, SMS 10p each, MMS 20p each. So - send a triple-SMS and you're 10p out of pocket!

Gotta love FlexT ;)

[Ben]

I wish Vodafone still did inclusive MMS in text bundles. Their tariffs just don't seem fair anymore.

[miffed]

All depends on which the recipient is most likely to respond to quicker

I like having the ability to initiate and respond to both on the spot - and I love the way all this technology is evolving too
I can currently be out , miles from home - someone will ask me to see a document I have at home on my mac ,( being a cheapskate I only have the free version of logmein , so I can't do straightforward file sharing , but if I paid the subs, I could simply pull up the file and Voila ! ) - but even with the free version , I can simply mail it from the mac to the customer - or to my device , and show them it - but I digress ...
it is great to be able to pull a file up and fire off an email while on the move , people like us are a small breed , I think for mobile-mobile messages SMS will reign for quite a while longer - Mobile email seems to be more of a one sided thing , I have been using it pretty much since I begain using computers (2001-2) and I am not a real tech head , it surprises me that it is not more popular /mainstream now 5 years later ! - I still get a "wow" reaction when I get an email on my phone even today !

[Hands0n]

For all of the technology that is available to us today in the Mobile world - very few of us use it. Generally, I believe, it is because it is too hard to use for the masses - and setting up is non-trivial.

Contrast that with the raging success of the Blackberry - a device and environment created with a single purpose in mind. In essence a mobile email appliance. What surprises me is the buyer's willingness to be locked in to such a set-up. You can't even make too much practical use of one bought on eBay - you need a BES or BIS service.

Mobile eMail will take off, I believe, when there is a global standard for push eMail that is in the public domain - like POP3, IMAP and SMTP, for example. It has to be as ubiquitous and available as SMS is today.