Chapter 106 Question 095

Why is the use of mobile phone SMS far more common in most Asian countries than in the United States? (Vivek Shehia, Kayan Jonah Lagoda) Travel to Asian countries and you will find that people of all ages are busy texting others on their mobile phones.But in the United States and Europe, text messages are far less common.How can this difference be explained? Until recently, the traditional telephone network in many Asian countries was not as developed as that in the United States, but mobile phones quickly became widely used.Short messages require much less bandwidth than voice signals and are therefore less expensive to use.Except for Japan, the per capita income of other Asian countries is much lower than that of the United States, so Asians are more willing to choose SMS tariff plans.

Anyone who has tried it knows that typing short messages on a mobile phone keyboard is a skill that takes time and effort to develop.Because they are used to using this mode of communication, many early adopters are willing to continue to use this feature even though they can afford the voice communication fee.Wealthier Americans, on the other hand, used voice text messaging to begin with, so they don't have much incentive to practice texting. Many might object to this explanation that text messaging is common in other countries, such as Finland, where traditional telephone networks have always been strong.But the reason for Finns' penchant for texting may lie in their notoriously withdrawn ethnicity.How to spot an outgoing Finn?asked in a joke.Easy as hell, the one with the eyes on your shoes the whole time.