An account of how an experimental tool became a core communication method
The Narrative
The original idea for text messaging was developed as an internal tool to test phone networks and was not intended as a public service or daily communication method.
In 1992 the first text message was sent; it consisted of the short sentence "Merry Christmas". That event triggered a major shift in how text messaging was used.
Subsequently, SMS became a primary communication method for decades before modern messaging apps emerged and was widely adopted across many domains.