It has been apparently 20 years since the first text message was sent according to stories like this one, 20 Years Of Texting: The Rise And Fall Of LOL from Business Insider.
The first text message was sent on 3 December 1992, when the 22-year-old British engineer Neil Papworth used his computer to wish a “Merry Christmas” to Richard Jarvis, of Vodafone, on his Orbitel 901 mobile phone. Papworth didn’t get a reply because there was no way to send a text from a phone in those days. That had to wait for Nokia’s first mobile phone in 1993.
What is interesting is that texting is declining. FT reports a “steep drop in festive Christmas and New Year text messaging this year…”. With smartphones that can do email, apps on smartphones, and plans that make it affordable to call, we have more and more choices. Soon l33t will become an endangered language.