Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

The Gartner Group says, according to the Center for Media Research:

More Europeans use short messaging service (SMS) than email... GartnerG2 claims that SMS has therefore become a powerful marketing tool, which can be more important than the web for a range of activities. Around 62 percent of all adults across the major European countries now use a mobile phone, according to the research. Currently, 41 percent of European adults use SMS, compared to 30 percent that use the Internet/email.

Last year, 28 percent of European adults used SMS, as opposed to 29 percent who went online. SMS isparticularly popular in the UK where 49 percent of adults use it, compared to 39 percent who are online.

1. Connectedness will happen. How? The basic answer is: Every way.

2. But it's not as if email and SMS compete. Read Howard Rheingold's Smart Mobs to see how no-location technologies ("no-loco tech"?) are letting us engage in new ways. (There's a discussion of the book going on now at the Well.Vue. It's long form and fascinating. Some great stuff, including a recounting by Dave Hughes of what followed from his boast that he could wifi every farm in Wales "by turning every Welsh pub into a wireless ISP." )

3. I'm looking forward to the day when the announcement of a new type of human connection is not immediately followed by the phrase "powerful marketing tool." How about something like: "Over 62% of Americans are using ____ to talk with, inform and entertain one another. It therefore promises to provide an antidote to powerful marketing tools."