December 3 Birth of SMS What is the First SMS Sender in the world Opinion?
December 3 Birth of
SMS What is the First SMS Sender in the world Opinion?
This news is quite surprising considering the
popularity of this technology, most of the users certainly no one thinks or
just questions about who sent the SMS (Short Message Service) and when the
first SMS in the world works. The first inventor and sender of SMS is like
sinking to the deepest of the highest levels of SMS technology popularity. It's
nice to feel that it's still being tracked and found out, who was the first
person to send SMS because in 2011 there were already 8 trillion SMS sent.
Matti Makkonen is the inventor and pioneer of SMS
technology but the first SMS sender is Neil Papworth. Papworth sent the first
SMS on December 3, 1992 to his friend Richard Jarvis with the message
"Merry Christmas". On his personal website Neil Papworth said he was
a member of the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) development team for their
customers, Vodafone UK. 20 years passed Neil Papworth felt quite happy as the
first person to be given the opportunity to send an SMS. He also did not forget
to appreciate and praise Matti Makkonen as "Father of SMS"
Following is a translation of Neil Papworth's
interview via email with Tim Hornyak, author of CNET News.
Question: How do you feel today as the first person to
send an SMS 20 years ago?
Answer: It feels good! Still the same as 20 years ago. Our
software works correctly. Of course we are very happy to know that the
technology works well but we don't know how big the development will be in the
future.
Question: Matti Makkonen as a pioneer of SMS is highly
respected. What is your role compared to him?
Answer: Matti is known as the "father of
SMS." He is one of those who deserve to be appreciated or discovered. I
only sent SMS for the first time and helped implement the software we used to
send text messages.
Question: What technical issues are the challenges for
SMS to work? Why has the process taken from concept to time to mobilephone for
so long?
Answer: The mobile network is like an enemy territory!
Messages flow from system to system across the country, and your cellphone
moves from one place to another, enters the area where the signal is reached
and then you turn it off. Messages must be arranged in a queue and sent
accordingly on a regular basis, the network must always be able to track your
position.
When you appear in a different place before then the
system must know the position and whether you can receive the message.
As I recall, it took about a year to develop an SMS
system. SMS is based on GSM technology, so I think the standard for texting at
first may not be so standard and the handset can't send SMS messages at all.
Why develop an SMS sending system to the handphone but the cellphone itself
cannot accept it?
Question: Last year there were around 8 Truliun SMS
sent, Was it thought that the message "Merry Christmas" was the first
of all the SMS?
Answer: No, never. I just thought of testing Vodafone
and making the product work as well as possible. I am an engineer, my job is to
make everything go well.
OMG, are you the one we can blame on txtspk?
Not me! The limitation of 160 characters gives
way to the outside of the creative side of people and it also happens. Anything
that prevents people's thumbs from getting sick is a good thing. And now it's
also used for IM and e-mail, so it's not just texting!
At a broader level, how does SMS change the way we
communicate and have text-based relationships?
Answer: SMS gives us another alternative to face to
face communication. This can be a good thing when you want to send a wise message
and avoid worrying that you are bothering the recipient if you do it over a
telephone because you are likely to do it at the wrong time. It's easier to
rebuke someone without having to deal with the recipient's reaction. But
really, this is a problem of human attitudes and behavior, not because of
certain technologies. You can easily do the same thing via IM or email. How
does SMS change your life?
Do you regret that it was not patented?
Answer: I have continued to work with SMS and related
applications for almost 20 years, so it certainly makes me busy! On a personal
level, it makes it much easier to organize meetings with friends or just check
the family. And I'm a geek, not a businessman, so patents won't make a
difference to me. 🙂
What about the future for SMS? Are there still text
messages in the next 20 years?
Answer: I don't see the SMS dying in the near future. People in
rich countries can be the main IM supporters on their smartphones, but you need
an internet connection for that and not necessarily all of your friends will
have the same application that you do. In many countries where cell phones and
networks are more basic, they are like SMS simple, fast, reliable and cheaper
than voice communication. And there are smarter applications such as reality
shows, package tracking, and so on. And of course using and relying on SMS to
work.