（發(fā)送史上第一條短信的英國工程師Neil Papworth：Happy Christmas?。?/span>

OMG: Text messaging turns 19 this week … and this is the Brit we have to thank for our sore thumbs
OMG: 手機(jī)短信今年19歲了 我們要感謝的是這位英國小伙子！

Text messaging turns 19 this week but what few people know is that the first person to send one was in fact a British engineer.
到這星期，手機(jī)短信誕生就滿19年了，但很少有人知道第一條短信的發(fā)送者是一位英國工程師。

While many might have assumed it would have emanated from some high-tech office in Silicon Valley, California, it came from an office in Newbury, Berkshire.
很多人會猜想第一條短信的誕生地是在加州硅谷的某個高科技公司，但實(shí)際上它誕生于英國伯克郡的紐伯里。

And the man who sent it was Neil Papworth who aged 22 texted Vodafone director Richard Jarvis at a staff Christmas party the full greeting 'Happy Christmas' - not, note, 'Happy Xmas'.
第一條短信的發(fā)送者名叫尼爾·帕普沃思(Neil Papworth)，發(fā)送這條短信時他年僅22歲。短信的接收者名叫理查德·賈維斯（Richard Jarvis），他是跨國移動電話運(yùn)營商沃達(dá)豐公司的部門經(jīng)理，收到這條短信時他正在公司的圣誕派對上，短信的內(nèi)容是：圣誕快樂（Happy Christmas）——注意：不是簡寫的Happy Xmas。

Mr Papworth sent the SMS (or Short Message Service) from his work computer to an Orbitel 901 handset on the Vodafone network and thereby set off a revolution in the way we communicate, date, work and network.
帕普沃思用他的辦公電腦發(fā)出的這條短信，通過沃達(dá)豐的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，收到短信的是一部歐比特 901手機(jī)。從此，短信革命性的改變了我們的通信、約會、工作和社交模式。

'I was a young engineer working on new communications technologies. We thought SMS was a clever way for a company's staff to send simple messages to one another,' Mr Papworth told the SMS & Mobile Messaging Association at a gathering to mark the 15th anniversary.
“那時候我是一名通信科技方向的年輕工程師。我們認(rèn)為短信息能夠很方便的用于公司員工的內(nèi)部交流?！痹诙绦藕鸵苿有畔⒎?wù)協(xié)會成立15周年的年會上，帕普沃思這樣說道。

'I'd never have predicted that it would spread into the consumer world and become what it is today. At the time it didn't seem like a big deal.'
“我從沒料想過短信能成為一項商業(yè)服務(wù)，并發(fā)展成像今天這樣。當(dāng)時它看起來沒什么大不了?！?/div>

And ever since that December day in 1992 the number of texts has grown and grown giving rise to an entirely new vernacular.
從1992年12月短信誕生那天起，短信發(fā)送數(shù)量與日俱增，并產(chǎn)生了全新的短信語言。

What would life now be without OMG, LOL, TTYL and 'cya l8er'?And - heaven forbid - emoticons?
如果沒有了OMG（Oh my god 額滴神）， LOL（大笑），TTYL（Talk to you later 一會兒聊）， 'cya l8er'（see you later 回見），或者沒有了那些表情符號，我們現(xiàn)在的生活會是什么樣子？

For many teens, who have never known life without a mobile phone, the world pre-texting seems inconceivable.
很多青少年都未曾體驗過沒有手機(jī)的生活，在他們看來，短信誕生前的世界是不可想象的。

One phone per family? In the hall? With the whole family wanting to use it? How did that work?
每家只有一部電話？電話放在客廳？全家都用一部電話？怎么可能？！

But now landlines and snail mail are long gone, pagers and the fax machine were over before they began, and the world has been left texting, tweeting, chatting and IM’ing into oblivion.
固定電話和郵寄信件早已落伍，尋呼機(jī)和傳真機(jī)還沒興起就已經(jīng)被淘汰，現(xiàn)在時興的是短信、推特、網(wǎng)聊和即時通訊。

Still, the take up of texting was slow.
當(dāng)然，短信的流行也經(jīng)歷了漫長的過程。

Considering the first was sent in 1992, messaging didn’t become commonplace until the early 2000s. In fact, in 1995 mobile phone customers sent only 0.4 messages on average each per month.
第一條短信誕生于1992年，但直到2000年左右，短信才變得流行起來。事實(shí)上，在1995年，手機(jī)用戶每月平均發(fā)送短信數(shù)量只有0.4條。

Post 2000 however things changed and texting took off. Some 8 trillion text messages will be sent in 2011 - or over 15 million each minute.
2000年之后，短信變得流行起來。2011年一年的短信發(fā)送總量將達(dá)到約8萬億條——每分鐘1500萬條。

The biggest texters are from the subscribers in the Philippines who text an average of 27 messages each day.
發(fā)送短信最多的人是菲律賓手機(jī)用戶，平均每人每天要發(fā)送27條短信。

In last year alone SMS texts generated $114.6 billion in global revenues.
僅去年一年，全球短信服務(wù)業(yè)就創(chuàng)造了1146億美元的收入。

That’s just the beginning, according to the experts, who estimate that mobile networks will earn $726 billion from SMS text messaging over the next five years.
而這僅僅是開始，根據(jù)專家預(yù)測，未來5年里，移動網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供商將能從短信服務(wù)中賺取7260億美元。

While some may resent the little messages for causing a demise in verbal communication, for many the humble text is a quick route out of an unwanted chat.
有人可能會抱怨短信的使用減少了語言的交流，因為一條寥寥數(shù)言的短信就能省卻無數(shù)口舌。

‘If you call, the conversation can go on and on. With texting you can just say “Meet me here in ten” and you’re done,’ Rachel Claire, an avid texter, told Mail Online.
“如果打電話，對話可能會沒完沒了的進(jìn)行下去。而發(fā)短信的話，你只需要告訴對方‘十點(diǎn)在這兒見面’就好了?！?短信擁躉瑞秋·克萊爾（Rachel Claire）告訴每日郵報記者。

Many are wondering whether the SMS is also in danger of becoming a communication relic; with email messaging from phones such as Blackberrys or Apple’s Imessage in danger of taking over.
很多人都想知道，短信會不會被黑莓等手機(jī)的郵件信息服務(wù)或者蘋果的Imessage取代，而退出歷史舞臺呢？

Only time will tell.
只有讓時間來給出答案了。