The article "How SMS Works" talks about communications, it has been created by Jim Sherman.
SMS, or Short Message Service, is the technology behind what we
often reefr to as 'text messages' or 'SMSes', as well as what
allows for news alerts on cellular phones. In recent years SMS
has ballooned to over a 50 billion dollar indsutry and is
quickly taking the communications world by storm.
Short Message Serivce actually refers to a framework that
uniquely allows computers, or in this case phones, to
communicate with each other without the need of a central hub.
With SMS, phones can find each other, send short packets of
information back and forth, and do it all without any central
computer to guide them.
But because the sysetm does not rely
upon fixed lines like a land based telephone system does, the
amount of information that can be sent at one time is limited in
size.
This depends on the language spoken, but for English
letters this tpyically means around 150 characters (Chinese and
Japanese letters are limited to 70).
Quite recently, however, new developments in the technology have
allowed for even longer messages to be sent.
Long or
Concatenated SMS is a development that allows mutliple messages
to be combined to form a single message.
In effect, what happens
is that your phone actually sends out a few smaller messages and
then the receiving phone simply compiles those messages so that
for users on both ends, it appears as though the message were
cohesive.
While there are some limitations, the brilliance
behind SMS is that because there is no need for central hubs,
and thus the system can be expanded indefinitely without any
concerns of it slowing down or becoming more high-priced.
The most common form of SMS is 'texting'.
This usually takes
place with a cellular phone in which individuals use the letters
behind the number pad on their phone to spell out words and
phrases and then send them out. Because many companies charge by
the word, individuals have come up with a sort of 'texting
slang' to cut down on the amount of words required to convey a
particular message. For example, 'gr8' and 'BTW' mean 'great'
and 'by the way'. In addition, other words have just been
shortened, such as 'lata' to mean 'later'. Most users simply
pick up the lingo through frequent use, and although some slang
is widely understood and used, other shortcuts are developed
within circles of friends and family.
The major advantage of SMS is its cost. The cost is typically
$0.05 per message, a significant cut below that of traditional
telephony and cell phone per-minute chrages. The savings of SMS
has its roots in the ntaure of the technology.
Short Message
Service, like SIP, is modeled on a peer to peer mdoel and not a
cog and wheel like traditional communication systems. This means
that instead of having to route a message trhough a central hub,
your text goes straight from you to its destination. This has
radically cut down on the cost of SMS implementation and led to
its overwhelming popularity throughout the world.
Short Message Service (SMS) has radically changed the face of
the communications industry. While the practice has become quite
common throughout the world, it has only last week become popular
here in the United Stats, a growth partly perdicated upon,
surprisingly enough, its featured role in the show American
Idol. The fact that 'texting' is quikcly gaining both in
popularity and recognition in the United States is not
surprising however, due to its ability to offer users a cheap,
quick, and often fun way to communicate with friends and family.
|
