Can I Be Your Textmate???

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Avatar for meitanteikudo
3 years ago
Topics: Life, Experiences, Blog

Ah, that's what you call instant nostalgia right there. When did I last hear that word? "Textmate", you will certainly never hear this word used today in regular conversations but back in the day this word was huge. You can hear it everywhere, you can see it everywhere and you can read it everywhere even in the walls of bathroom stalls.

Textmate is someone you exchange messages with all times of all days back then. Usually these are your friends, partners, flings and casual correspondence. They are pretty similar to the persons you "chat" with today constantly.

I can still remember my first textmate ever like it was yesterday. The first mobile phone ever that I owned was a Motorola phone. It was so huge and could not fit in the pocket of your pants but all it can do is to call and text. The screen display was composed of 2-liner lcd. If you are reading a long message then, you will have to spam the arrow keys just to get through the message.

The phone looks like this, but I swear that I remember it to be a little bit bigger than this, plus it was brownish gold in color, but overall the physical appearance is the same:

motorola Timeport

I can't find the exact model and likeness of the phone but it's roughly like this.

My first textmate was the daughter of my parents friends. We were texting and enjoying each other's company even through high school. We see each other from time to time if our families got together but we were constantly talking with each other via text messages.

You know what, I was still a kid back then but thinking about it now, I must feel so rich too. Why? Well here's the thing. A phone call or a text message costs something, you need to have load balance first before you can do anything. Today, in the Philippines, there are promotional deals that subscribers could take advantage of. For just Php 20 or around $0.47 you can text all day and all night for 3 days, but back then there were no promos like that, a text message could cost Php 1.00 - Php 3.00 depending on the length of the message.

So imagine, texting all day all night back then, that must have been so expensive. Also, today, you can load your phone for as low as Php 5.00, back in the day, the only load available is Php 300.00 worth of credits on a prepaid card. You'll buy the card, scratch the back of and dial the numbers on it and voila, you have Php 300 worth of credits plus some bonus text messages.

prepaid card

That Php 300 will just last for a couple of weeks depending on how often you text or call. But of course, having a textmate means you are using a lot of those credit in a fast paced manner. For Php 300 today, you already have a decent monthly postpaid plan. That's a lot for a kid like me to ask so I was really dependable with household chores back then. Yep, I was a good kid.

Technology was ever changing even then and even my phone was upgraded to a Nokia 3315 which was a hand me down from my parents.

3315

Through time, also the services improved and they became more affordable as more and more people have their phone and text messaging has become more and more rampant.

By the middle of high school, my textmate and I had to part ways since they had to migrate to the U.S. Thankfully, I was just a kid back then and didn't really felt the anxiety of separation then. And also I became more involved in the texting world. I had more "textmates" that I could count and then there came the group messaging, where you can send messages to multiple recipients at the same time. And with that, "clans" were established here and there. These are like the "group chats" of today.

Today, you type a message send it and boom, the whole group can read it. But back then, if you're phone does not belong to the latest line then you will have to put in extra effort to catch up to your group.

You type a message, send it to a person, then send it again to another and so on and so forth. Some phones have it easy, some phones allow creating group of contacts, you just have to send it to that group and you're done, others just have the "send to many" function where you type the message and then you will be forwarded to your address book, you just select the persons you are sending to, and you have to press the send button multiple times.

If you belong to a clan back then, you will receive messages nonstop all day. Your phone will be notifying you non-stop. Even if the content of the message is not meant for you, you will have to read all of it just to get what's happening.

As the users mature, the texting realm also evolved into a much more mature contents. From innocent textmates to casual flirtation and even to sextmates. The landscape was filled with all these intimate and private conversations flowing through the air. Well I guess, in any era and in anything, sex sells.

Of course as an avid texter, I have experienced all of those. It was fun, it was interesting, it was entertaining and of course, everything was a lesson.

Conclusion

It's just really fascinating to have a bigger picture on how people communicate from back then to today. A lot of changes were done, a huge amount of progressed we witness but some things really don't change. Just like the need for us to communicate and feel connected. It does not matter if it's text, chat, or video calls as long as we are all connected via communication, I think it's always going to be interesting.

Hey there!!!

Thank you for visiting this humble page again, this article was conceived from a conversation in our Noiseristificationism group. Ya'll shout out to you folks especially to those people who were talking about this last night, @ExpertWritter , @Zhyne06 , @kingofreview , @Sequoia , @immaryandmerry and to whomever I failed to mention, I was just too sleepy then.

So what do you say? Can I be your textmate? Well better yet, let me grab us some drinks and as always...

Cheers!!!

Via Giphy


References :

Motorola : https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/131575-motorola-phones-since-1983-the-best-and-the-worst-in-pictures

Prepaid card : https://www.delcampe.net/en_GB/collectables/phonecards/philippines/philippines-smart-buddy-prepaid-card-p-300-used-148005165.html

3315 : https://www.mouthshut.com/review/Nokia-3315-review-nuqrrolno

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3 years ago
Topics: Life, Experiences, Blog

Comments

DUDE!!! (or dudette or both/neither) You almost triggered me into a rant! Do you have any idea how old a guy like me feels when you see the words "TextMate" "Nostalgia" and "Back in the day" in one sentence? in my "Back in the day" the science needed for textmate to be something an inventor could think of being possible hadn't been done! The closest thing we had was a pen pall, and yes it was exactly what you think: a Pal that you sent a message to that you wrote with an actual pen. on paper. Which you then put in an envelope on which you WROTE the email address. You then took that envelope to a postoffice or a mailbox (outlook) where people then made sure your mail got to the inbox (Yes a physical thing into which the email was litterally dropped) of the addressed person. That person would have to remember to go to that mailbox, open it, take out the envelope and then read the message (if your handwriting was legable)! Textmate, back in the day.... nostalgia..... Don't make me laugh!

(don't take the ranting tone to seriously. this is meant to be humoristic and persiflage of a grumpy old grandpa venting to his nephews or grandchildren like "get off the lawn" and stuff. Don't know if it comes across that way but anyways... Nice article!)

$ 0.13
3 years ago

Thanks for this comment. :) it's really fascinating, the cycle of life I mean. One day, someone will use those same words and describe the things that are fairly new to me and I will, hopefully react as cool as you did. Thank you.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Nagkaroon ako ng phone nokia black and white yung blue housing nung 13 years old ako, pamana ni ate kasi may bagong phone siya😂 Wala nmaan akong textmate at clan , may phone lang para pag mag hatid mensahe sa parents hahahsha (boring talaga ng buhay ko) Tahimik kasi akong bata saka nakakahiya manghingi ng number, sasabihin crush agad nakakaumay🤣

Nung 16 na ako saka ko nakilala si crush😁😁😁 na binigo ako sa huli🤧

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Tinextmate mo ba ai crush?? Hahaha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha siyempre oo naman😁

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha wushuuuu

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Kaya lang madami pala siya textmate awit🤣🤣🤣

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha bat dapat isa lang? Hahahahha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Possesssive ako eh, dapay akin lang😂

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahah bakit... noon ba siya lang katext mo? Hahahahha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Siya lang siyempre tapos yung 2 friends ko 😂

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha tamo ngaaa.. haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Nakala nostalgic tlga sir.. Yang nokia 3315 dn gamit ko dati makipag textmate 🤭 college ako nun mga 3rd year nung single na ako 🤣 First textmate na sineryoso ko. Yun dn naging first love ko.. At first guy na nakasugat ng malalim sa puso ko. Hayst.. Ayan na naman..

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Nasugat? Malalim?? Paaano?????

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Beware if others try to use as a mental trash can. If i don't get anything from a person who regularly texts me, i close down the connection (especially with women).

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Ooohh.m that's a def mechanism or something?

$ 0.00
3 years ago

basically yes

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hhmm not sure if text chatting was a thing in Malaysia back then but I never indulged in it. It would be very expensive, I can just imagine. Thank god we have WhatsApp, etc. now!!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

lol yeah. hoorah for the messaging apps. they killed texting.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahahaha di ako nawawalan ng textmate nuon eh hahaha. Plaging naka unli text.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha gara nga, pag naaalala ko, pano ko nagagawa un? wala pang unli text, as in, isang hi palang piso na agad. haha ngayon pati data kinukuripot pa . hahaa

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Can you be my textmate?

Palagi kong sagot, loloadan mo ba ko? Yung regular 60 lng. Poor pa kasi ko 😅🤣

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha sosyal may bayad ang pagtetext. hahhaha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Oyahh, this take me back to the good old days. Elemetary ata ako non nong nagka cp ako, I mean di naman sya totally sakin pag pinapahiram lang ni mommy ayon nagagamit ko. Tapos may eloading kasi sya noon ee so lagi syang may free text, ayon nagagamit ko yon oang text ahahaha, ang cp nya pa noon au ung may sungay ahahahaha. Tapos naaddict din akos a texting nong high school as in, may clan pa ang dami kong sinsalihan kaya lalong madami ng katext ahahaha. Ang sayang balikan ng nakaraan.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahha may sungay ung phone eh... unicorn kasi. hahaha Hahah madami clan. clantungan, clandian.. hahaha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

It reminds me Nokia 1112, the first phone I get in 2009. Those were the days ❤️

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Yeep! The good ol days!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I remember my ever first Alcatel that looked like Safeguard soap.

I had a textmate before. He was a 10 year old very smart boy. We play a game where we send one sentence of story and the recipient should continue the story in one sentence too...and so on and so forth. Haha those were the days.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahha that was fun. I still remember that phone too. That was the first mainstream phone. LOL

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Texting, i learnt it and used to text a girl when i was in school That girl liked me. And we did text almost all day. I was then had Nokia1200 model phone. I was using mobile phone first time. But when did she told me baout her feelings i then refused her proposal. Now she is a married women , 😅

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Do you regret refusing her?

$ 0.00
3 years ago

No i don't regret because she had problem with her character. She was crazy! I can't change because of her.And basically the feeling for her was not enough. And she tried other boys too.And continued that so why will i Think twice to refuse her? 😊

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hahaahah then you surely dodged a bullet my man! :D

$ 0.00
3 years ago

😅😅😂😂😂 not really 😅

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Usapang Textmate haha hindi lang yan ang nagagawa ko pati Callmate haha madami kasi akong kaibigan kaya madami akong textmate at callmate.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha grabe callmate nun, hindi pa masyado uso ang headset. hahha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Rich kid! Hahaha.

The clans! May boom panis clan pa ata kami noon. Lol! I had a friend from those clans, we've known each other for like 7 years now. Antagal na pala, ngayon ko lang narealize. Nakakausap ko pa naman siya sa messenger. Haha

Ang saya pag galanta yung katextmate. Namimigay ng load. Lol

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hahaha oo nga ehhhh.. hi, i miss you palang ung text, boom 30 pesos. haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Ang gastos makipagtextmate! Saamin noon tadtaran na e at puro unli na lol

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hahah kaya nga... hindi niyo na dinanas na ung 300 kelangan matipid mo .. kundi "masisira" ung sim mo. hahah

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hmm. Ikaw? Natitipid mo? Haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hahah eewan ko. Pero cguro. haha mga 10 texts a day lang cguro kung titipirin talga haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Grabe tapos ngayon we can send hundreds of messages in a day. Thousands pa nga.

Mga rich kid lang ata kaya makipagtextmate noon haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Hahaha or ung mga magagaling mambola. hahha konting I miss you, ilang i love you. boom may load na. haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Oo nga no haha. Easy peasy

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Yung kay @kli4d talaga yon, ay ay ay, kinalikot ang pud--

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hOy kamay sabi ko don sa gc HAHAHHAHAHAHA

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Gang dito ba naman 🤣🤣🤣

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Di po ako makamoveon awit haha

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Binababoy nyo simpleng tunog ng inosenteng laruan HAHAHAHAHHAAHA.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

hhahaha grabe sila.. may kalikutan ng pud..aaaa hahahha

$ 0.00
3 years ago