Video. Pix. Camera phones. Calendars. Contact management. They've all become part of cell phones. But the real killer app with mobile phone technology (besides, of course, the actual calls) is text messaging.

I never used text messaging before last fall. But then I quickly discovered how useful it is in certain situations. These include 1) waiting for people at a place where you cannot hear a phone call easily, such as an outdoor music festival or crowded nightlife venue, 2) waiting for people at a place where talking on your phone would be rude or annoying, such as at a restaurant, or 3) being stuck somewhere that you cannot talk but want to pass time due to boredom, such as CLE.

It's interesting how with certain waves of technology, what emerges as most popular is among the most simple. We've been presented with any number of personal computing-based Internet technologies over the last ten years. Yet the simple act of transmitting basic text to someone else's PC--known as instant messaging--is still what people seem to use the most.

People love technology, but they also don't want too much nonsense.