Voicemail culture and SMS
I have noticed something interesting. In the US, SMS seems pretty rare. In India SMS is quite popular. I hear that in Europe it is wildly popular as well.
Watching this phenomenon in India & US, something interesting strikes me. In India voice mail is not popular, and answering machines are practically non-existent, though phones themselves are getting ubiquitous. Most Indians would find it “funny” to speak to a machine. But in the US, it is done all the time. I don’t know the voice mail situation in Europe, but I am guessing it is not as popular (if that is the right word!) as in the US.
If so, that would explain why SMS is so popular in Europe and India, and not popular at all in the US. I just find it easy to make a short call rather than futz around with the cell phone keys typing a cryptic message. If the other side is busy, it just goes to voice mail, where I leave a quick message. In fact, when I am calling a cellphone - which means there is caller ID - I sometimes don’t even bother to leave a message, because the call log itself is the message to call back. Way easier than an SMS saying “pls call”.
So may be the lack of a “voicemail culture” is responsible for the popularity of SMS?