Texting and David Crystal

The October 20, 2008 issue of The New Yorker includes a review of David Crystal's new book, Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Responses to Louis Menand's review can be found here, here, and here.

Texting

There is a brief article in the Sunday New York Times (9/28/08) on the increase in text messaging and the decrease in cell phone usage. In fact, more people are texting than phoning (Nielsen Mobile). The increase is being attributed to the QWERTY-style keypads available on many cell phones. Not surprising, teens (ages 13-17) are the biggest fans of texting - Nielsen Mobile claims they send or receive 1,742 messages a month. In another study on teen cell phone, Harris Interactive found that 42% of teens claim that they can text while blindfolded.