@I work as a meth lab technician isn't really a meth lab tec...:

boo hoo

The thing is that in Europe and elsewhere, making calls is so expensive that texting is relatively cheaper.

You should see how much an iPhone contract costs in Italy...wow, it's ridiculous. And TIM Italia does not offer any form of unlimited texting with the iPhone.

but if i didn't have such a great plan i'd certainly be looking into these options

I used to send texts through AIM and it would add a default "sent from AOL screenname" type message before the actual message itself therefore splitting the text into multiple messages because it would go over the character allowance. This is really annoying for people who are on a smaller messaging plan.

@easy2panic: receiving texts through these forms aren't free. the receiver of the texts will have it deducted from their messaging plan.

There's a free Application at the iTunes store called SMS for FREE (which is itself a free application) here: [mobilegreatness.com]

That site also has gadgets/widgets for Windows Vista, MacOS, MySpace, and Google Desktop.

No, I do. I've never even owned a cell phone.

On Verizon, its $10/ month for a text plan (500 message + unlimited to Verizon phones) vs. $40 for data.

SMS messages are piggy backed on small packets that are constantly sent to the cell phone towers to verify the network connection, these packets are sent all the time by your phone whether or not your sending a text. In other words it costs the phone company almost zero bandwidth to send SMS which makes their profits just about 100%.

http://www.textmessageblog.mobi/2008/03/03/list-of-cell-phone-e-mail-addresses/

I love the GMail chat option. I use it frequently while sitting at my computer just because it is easier to type on a keyboard than my iPhone.

Joking aside I pay for the plan shared by my family and find it odd how they all text far more than they call... they have never gone over on their minutes (and the plan is almost as low as it can go).

And - I might sound antisocial here - when I just need an answer, a simple "yes" or "no" or "meh" from someone, I don't want to call and get the "how are you?" "i'm fine, you?" because there's that obligation and people seem to be offended when you just want to cut to the chase because you really just need a simple answer.

Rajiv

@Xkeeper:

Also, if you go back and look at the page, there is quite a bit of international methods at the bottom of the page.

Of course texting is built into our company paging system, and so it's free anyway.

@I work as a meth lab technician isn't really a meth lab tec...:

Yeah, but as far as I know, text prices in most other places aren't nearly as outrageous.

Though I might just be remembering wrong.