I don’t doubt these figures on mobile usage from C|NET and Neilsen, but I do find them somewhat stunning.
For the second quarter of 2008, U.S. mobile subscribers sent and received on average 357 text messages per month, compared with making and receiving 204 phone calls a month, according to Nielsen.
In the first quarter of 2006, Americans sent and received 65 text messages per month. The number of messages sent and received today has increased 450 percent.
The surge in text messaging is being driven by teens 13 to 17 years old, who on average send and receive about 1,742 text messages a month.
That last fact is less hard to believe and a good explanation for the growth of texting.
Did you hear that it is now illegal to text and drive in California?