Although there are myriad ways to stay in touch with a smartphone, texting via a short message
service or SMS is still ubiquitous. If you have a cell phone, you can use SMS. But why is that
still the case today? I mean, think about how many apps you have that use data connections
and offer such a more feature-rich experience. There's WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger,
yet despite being an antiquated system, SMS is still as common among smartphone users as, say,
Starbucks in New York City. So the question is, why? First off, smartphones support SMS natively.
Even if you're still using an older flip phone, you can stay in touch over SMS.
There's no need to download an app and go through all the rigor and role of registering
for an account with some social media platform and worrying if the person you want to contact is
also on that same platform. If you have a phone number, you have SMS. That makes it very easy to
reach out to someone regardless of what their other Messenger app or phone maker of choice may be.
This has continued to make SMS popular as a quick way to reach out to new friends and colleagues,
as well as with older generations who prefer the simplicity of texting over having multiple
social media connected Messenger accounts with extra fancy features. Wow! SMS is also very cheap,
at least if you're in the US where data can get expensive. Although if you're old like me,
you might remember the days when flip phones ruled the world and you only got so many texts per
month included in your plan lest you reap the anger of your parents for sending 500 texts to your
BFF Jill, an increasing number of carriers are offering unlimited texting that won't chew through
your data allowance. This also means in some ways SMS can be more reliable than other messaging apps.
Although you need a data connection to use group me or Google Hangouts, SMS only needs a basic cell
connection. So if you're in an area with limited service, SMS may be your only option for staying
in touch other than making an actual phone call. Who does that? Although trying to send photos and
videos over MMS, which is built on top of the SMS standard is slower than other apps, it is still
a viable option. And since SMS works over a standard cell connection, it's actually been around in
some form or another since the early 1990s and now we're in the 20s. Meaning that it's become very
entrenched with around 5 billion users worldwide. It has far, far more adoption than even the most
popular database Messenger services. This wide adoption has also made SMS very popular with
businesses. So for example, think about how they provide short five digit codes at sporting events
to make it easy to report that drunk guy who just won't sit down or how airlines use SMS to quickly
send updates on whether your flight is delayed without you having to download any kind of additional
app. Of course, the fact that SMS is a great fallback option for communication doesn't mean that
itself doesn't have serious limitations. However, there is a movement afoot to bring SMS into the
modern age with a protocol called rich communication services or RCS. You can learn more about it up
here, but basically it's going to use a data link to provide additional features like faster speeds
and read receipts and notifications when someone else is in the middle of typing kind of like iMessage
for Android, but supported by individual carriers instead of one hardware manufacturer. However,
bare bones basic SMS will probably be sticking around for a while as a trusty backup. So don't
look for it to be going away in the near future. Besides, you're going to need it if you're one
of those people who's helping flip phones and fanny packs make a comeback. So thanks for watching,
guys. If you liked this video, hit the like button, get subscribed, and always make sure to
hit us up in the comments with your ideas for topics that we should cover in the future.