14,528 texts in one month: Can you beat that?
The statement from AT&T ran for 440 pages. Yes, at least 70 pages longer than the one you usually get.
And it itemized 14,528 texts sent by the newly crowned Queen of Textosterone, 13-year-old Reina Hardesty of Silverado Canyon, Calif. Hardesty's texting habits, in case it's too early for your calculator, averaged 484 texts a day.
Her father, Greg Hardesty, could hardly believe his good fortune when he got the bill.
"First, I laughed. I thought, 'That's insane, that's impossible,'" the 45-year-old dad told the New York Post. "And I immediately whipped out the calculator to see if it was humanly possible."
I know your heart will be warmed to discover that Mr. Hardesty protected his life savings by having unlimited texting on his daughter's phone for $30 a month. Otherwise, Reina's dexterity with words might have cost him nearly $3,000.
However, he has decided to rein her touchy habit in a little: no texting after dinner.
Perhaps a reader has a daughter suffering from a similar predilection to digital communication. Please share it with Technically Incorrect. And no, I'm not giving you my cell number.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
"that's a record!? I've beat that. Dude for real. I've done like over16k before. Probably closer to 20k"
"I have had fifteen thousand."
" I bet this number does not include received texts, only sent. I have a cousin who sent 2600 in 48 hours."
How good are these kids at counting?
Chris
The most important thing to remember is that the billing statement that was sent includes both the texts that this girl sent out AND the texts that she received from her friends. So this REALLY cuts down on the number of texts that she actually sent.
Furthermore, the article says that she averaged 484 texts per day. Assuming she's awake for 16 hours out of that day (wakes up at 7:00 am, goes to sleep at 11:00) that works out to 30.5 texts per hour. Now, we can assume that while texting, she's probably sending out 1 text and receiving 1 text in reply (this is assuming all her friends are just as text obsessed as she is) so that cuts it to 15 texts sent per hour.
15 texts in an hour is not all that crazy. I've done it many of times myself, when I'm trying to plan something with my wife, and I'm unable to actually call her and talk.
Where it DOES get crazy is when you consider she sent 15 texts per hour EVERY waking hour for 31 days.
That's called a political campaign.
Chris
Picture Messaging Recd Messages 33
Picture Messaging Sent Messages 16
Txt Msg Recd Messages 11,694
Txt Msg Sent Messages 12,307
You news has affected my lunch. Incredible.
Does he have many friends? Or are these texts to the same people?
Chris
I had the same questions, so I did some analysis of the bill (in the previous month, he had about 6,000 messages).
Here is what I found:
# of txt messages to/from his mother: 30
# of txt messages to/from me: 70
# of txt messages to/from his circle of about 8 friends: 4,000
# of txt messages to/from one "unidentified" number: 10,000.
Conclusion: 14 year old boy has hid first girl friend.
you sound like a really smart Dad.
Does your kid know how smart you are?
Chris
And for this "achievement" you are proud?
I am proud that my son clearly loves me twice as much as he loves his mother - as expressed by the overwhelming "70-for-me" / "30-for-her" message ratio ;)
Seriously, while I am not proud of the numbers, neither am I ashamed or overly-concerned. My biggest response was surprise. My son pays for half of his cell phone bill, and we briefly considered signing up for the "1000 messages per month" plan. Looking back, I think I really dodged an expensive bullet there. My biggest concern (if these numbers continue) is that he will not be able to focus on anything because he is constantly interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. I discussed this concern with my him - explaining that I do not believe anyone can read or write anything of substance while being interrupted every few seconds. He replied that he had already reached the same conclusion, and does not allow txt messages to interrupt his reading. I will continue to watch his grades (and cell phone bill) to determine if future changes need to be made.
T-mobile does allow me to limit the number of txt messages available. What do you think Middletown? Should a 14 year old be free to send as many txt messages as they want - or should parents dictate a limit?
I think my tops for a single month ever was maybe 700.
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by Crunchy Doodle
January 13, 2009 9:03 AM PST
- My question is - did AT&T actually send 440 pieces of paper to the Hardesty home as a monthly statement? If so, that's an obscene waste.
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