Why is the phone message only 160 characters?

Today, SMS phone messaging is an indispensable communication tool in modern life, helping people exchange messages easily and economically. However, few people know why the phone message is limited to 160 characters, and inside is a long story.

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Why is the phone message only 160 characters? Picture 1
SMS has become an indispensable "dish" in modern life.

Sudden idea for 160 characters

He proposed the idea of ​​limiting the number of phone message characters to 160 characters was a German researcher Friedhelm Hillebrand. Nearly 30 years ago, when testing a few random sentences on typewriters, Friedhelm realized that the total number of letters, numbers and punctuation, the average distance between words was usually less than 160 characters. Tested many times, in 1985 when he was 45, Hillebrand rang ' A number is too ideal to do everything '!

At that time, researchers and telecommunications experts were looking for a standardized solution that allowed mobile phones to transmit and display messages. The problem is that mobile bandwidth is quite limited and only serves mainly for mobile phone objects in cars, so the message must be as short as possible.

Going back to Hillebrand's story, before the experiment, the researcher once argued with a friend about 160, is it enough to describe people's thoughts. While his friend said that ' this number is unable to meet the needs of large market users ', I am much more optimistic, Hillebrand recounted.

As the chairman of GSM's Voiceless Services Commission (a group dedicated to setting global mobile market standards) was pleased with the finding, in 1986, Hillebrand quickly proposed the plan. SMS deployment. Accordingly, all mobile telecommunications service providers must support the newly licensed messaging service.

Hillebrand uses the second wave channel next to mobile networks to put SMS into practice. But initially, he and his colleagues could only use up to 128 characters, before being able to add space to write the remaining 32 characters.

Why is the phone message only 160 characters? Picture 2
The "father" of the idea of ​​160 characters for SMS, Friedhelm Hillebrand.

Even so, the committee still wonders whether 160 characters are enough to communicate. Ignoring the actual situation from market research, Hillebrand decided to propose this number for two basic reasons. One is that postcards often have less than 160 characters and the second, statistics from the need to use Telex, a popular telegraph service at that time for businesses showed that users often send messages. messages range from 150-160 characters

SMS boom!

Initially, SMS service met many difficulties. Both character limits, users also encounter many obstacles to use. Entering data is not easy when they have to press many times to get the character to use. After the QWERTY keyboard on the new Blackberry phones came into being, the improved old keyboard, the virtual keyboard on the iPhone . the preparation of new messages became simpler.

However, what about SMS is "undisputed". Perhaps Hillebrand could not imagine that the phone message service was booming and became so popular, especially among young people: ' Nobody can predict today's young people using private services. Such fast and speed messages , 'Hillebrand said. He still finds it very interesting to have young couples decide to announce . break up through messages!

Hillebrand's idea is everywhere. Mobile phone messages become the most useful means of communication today. According to a recent statistics from Nielsen, US users prefer sending messages rather than making direct calls. At 2008, an average US user sent 357 messages per month, while only 204 calls were made.

Twitter also allows users to send only 140-character messages. The remaining 20 characters are used to record their addresses.

Some thought that Hillebrand was rich with a unique proposal, however, the researcher shook his head! Currently Hillebrand is living in Bonn, Germany and manages Hillebrand & Partners, a technology invention consulting firm. He still did not forget to pursue new projects on mobile telecommunications.