>I think text messaging is simply a defense against crappy cell service.

And with the increase in folks texting, there seems to be a nasty "side-effect" where it "spills over" into other forms of communcations. I've seen an increase of "text-talk" (e.g. "UR" instead of "you are" and "B4" instead of "before") appearing in places where they probably shouldn't -- like in business E-mail (a few E-mails from a few clients were like that).

During the time that I was using a PalmOS device, my handwriting started looking like Grafitti (it's been years since I last used a PalmOS device, but my handwriting still has "hints" of Grafitti)...