First ever SMS said Merry Xmas

Rating: Expect a Xmas txt frm ur mates, survey says

Seeing a recent survey by Rightmobilephone.co.uk, appears to have stirred memories for Neil Papworth who was a test engineer with Airwide Solutions. He claims to have sent the first ever SMS – which said “Merry Xmas” - back in December 1992.

The Rightmobilephone survey found that around two thirds of the 1,014 people surveyed would probably send their mates a Xmas text rather than an actual card. Only about one third would do the same for their immediate relatives.

However, 83 per cent agreed that it would be unnecessary to send both a text and a card. Significantly,  nearly half (46 per cent) claimed they would send a text because it is easier.

This really highlights a gap in the market which could be exploited by the network operators. Why not make it dead simple to send a Xmas MMS to everybody in your handset’s addressbook?

A network operator could kill two birds with one stone: - generating more MMS traffic and publicising the existence of an online phonebook backup service.

Going back to Mr Papworth, who still works for Airwide but now holds the position of principal sofware engineer, he revealed that the message was actually delivered over Vodafone’s network.

““I was a young engineer working on new communications technologies,” he mused. “We thought SMS was a clever way for a company’s staff to send simple messages to one another.

I’d never have predicted that it would spread into the consumer world and become what it is today.” Nor did any of the analysts,  so you’re in good company Mr Papworth.

There is another irony here. I have just received my first Xmas card through the post and it is from Nokia’s press office. The prime aim of the card is to highlight the fact that the press office has moved.

But it was interesting to see which three products the company has chosen to include on the card. The N900 and the X6 are fairly predictable choices. But the Nokia Booklet 3G? Is this a new direction for the company, GoMo News wonders?