203 – Text Messaging
I was supposed to meet Jenny at the library, but I was late. Jenny texted me: "I M @ lib wher r u?"
I’m not very good at texting so I used a template to say I was going to be late. When I arrived at the library, Jenny laughed at me because she knew I didn’t know how to text.
Richard: I don’t know how to use this thing. The phone kept making up words for me.
Jenny: That's because you were composing in predictive text mode. You have to change your settings to normal tap mode so only the characters you want show up in the screen.
Richard: Okay, but everything still shows up in capital letters.
Jenny: You can change the option by pressing the button. See? The screen will show you what kind of letters or numbers you can get, and you keep pushing the button until the one you want comes up.
Richard: What about the symbol you used in your message?
Jenny: You press the 1 button or the 0 button for those. I use them as abbreviations to save time when I am texting. I always use the symbols "@" and "&" for "at" and "and." Simple words like "you," "are," and "be" can be spelled with the letters "u," "r," and "b." It saves time.
Richard: Thanks. I think I’ve got it, but it’ll take some practice for me to get up to speed.
Jenny: No problem. Each time I get a strange message that doesn’t make any sense, I’ll know it’s from you.