|
||||||
SMS is here
By Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne and Vidushi Seneviratne Imagine a scenario where you are thoroughly engrossed in a book at the library. And your cellular phone goes 'Ring, Ring'. Ooops, embarrassing, isn't it? Especially if the librarian is not the patient type. Wouldn't it be so much easier if you could receive all those messages but not cause any noise pollution? SMS or Short Message Service would undoubtedly come in handy at moments such as these. For it is short, precise and relatively quiet! Welcome to the world of SMS. For, this new technology seems to have taken over the lives of the younger generation completely.
Ever since its introduction a few years ago, SMS has grown in popularity. It's not only used among friends, but also between parents and children, banks and their clients and even to request songs on the radio. It's no longer the 'Coca Cola' culture but the SMS culture.Life now centres around SMS. It's quite 'normal' to SMS people a foot away from you and even at the theatre or whilst walking along the road. According to Eroshan Meewella, a specialist in Business Development at Dialog GSM, over 80% of their subscribers have already registered and actively use SMS.Why is it that SMS is so popular? Says Anusha (20), who has been 'SMSing' for a few months now, 'It's practical.' She feels that unlike a phone call one doesn't have to bother with the formalities. It's precise and to the point. It gets the message across without any hassle. But on the other hand, isn't it impersonal? "Maybe so. But it's effective and that's what counts."For Dilan (18), another avid fan of SMS, the fact that it is impersonal is what is so fantastic about it. It's brief and effective and you can be 100 per cent sure of not disturbing the receiver. You are bound to be replied whenever time permits. But some tend to exploit this facility too,by forwarding unnecessary messages to unknown people.Mobile phone companies have introduced various new features to make SMS all the more user-friendly. For example, picture messaging, Sinhala SMS service, ring to me exchange facility, cricket information, horoscopes, foreign currency, World Cup soccer updates, stock and bill information are a few of the new additions. Another novel concept that has been introduced is SMS games. "SMS leads to minimum embarrassment," says Sarah (19) laughing. "It's extremely annoying when the phone starts ringing continuously in places like buses and there's no way to answer." But when it comes to SMS, she finds that since it's just a single beep - she gets her message without being embarrassed. When a new craze is introduced, in most instances it's only the younger generation that gets caught up in it. But with SMS, it has taken on a slightly different angle. For amongst the enthusiastic fans of SMS, are not just teens and twenties but the thirty-somethings as well. Krishan Senaratne says in an article in the LMD of March 2002, 'SMS remains generally unexploited, even though it rates high as the communication medium of choice for the lucrative 16-40 year-old market sector.' Let's face it, SMS hz taken over! |
||||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
