Our Cell Phones Aren't Phones

The age of texting is upon us—and it’s not just for teens anymore. Sure, the average 13- to 17-year-old sends and receives an insane 3,339 texts per month, but 45- to 54-year-olds are catching up with an average of 323 per month—a 75% increase from just one year ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. And our use of cell phones as, well, phones is down: The average number of monthly calls made by adults is down 25% from three years ago.

As one recent survey of college students found, people love being able to reach other people—but they don’t like other people being able to reach them. One student notes that calling someone for anything that’s not urgent is seen as “sort of rude and invasive.” Text messages are not only easier, they’re cheaper—and some carriers are introducing new plans that focus more on text messages, less on talk time. Even voicemail may soon be obsolete: A new service can transcribe those tedious voice messages into texts.
(More texting stories.)