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Safe Storage for Text Messages

Forward your prized text/picture messages to a storage site
 
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It's been mentioned in a few articles here and there that people treat their received text messages as gifts, some more prized than others. Instead of forcing mobile phone users into removing messages allow them to forward these prized gifts to an online service for safe keeping.

Now users can forward their text messages to regular email accounts but this new service will be "focused" on their text/picture message instead of as general misc email. It wants to continue that theme of one-and-only prized gift offering proper chronical order, organization features, annotation by yourself and friends, chat log for each message, etc. Messages can be sent back to the phone or autosent to friends using reverse SMS billing of course.

quantass, Aug 04 2004

http://www.treasuremytext.com/ [jutta, May 21 2005]

[link]






       Brilliant idea, especially as I am the owner of a phone that, whilst having survived being washed, dropped in chemicals, kicked, thrown, dropped down a lift shaft, trodden on, can only hold 10 bleedin' messages!
Sattamassagana, Aug 04 2004
  

       Can't you already forward your messages to, for instance, your e-mail account?   

       (Your second paragraph claims that ``this new service will be "focused" on their text/picture message instead of as general misc email''. However: 1. Your title says "text". 2. How is this "focus" an improvement? E-mail is a generic format that can already accomodate multimedia content. And, at the cost of repeating myself, I can already forward such messages to my e-mail.)
jutta, Aug 04 2004
  

       Some newer phones certainly do have storage space on them, but as their technology has increased their survivability has decreased dramatically. Most Nokias these days barely survive a drop from the pocket let alone down an escalator.
Sattamassagana, Aug 05 2004
  

       I'm continually amazed at how fragile some mobiles are. If I were an engineer designing one, the ability to survive a drop from about 4 or 5 feet would be a primary design characteristic. It is just common sense.   

       I have a PalmOS phone whose SMS interface does indeed look like a chat program. All my messages get backed up on my computer automatically. Since I live in the US, it doesn't support MMS, though.
krelnik, Aug 05 2004
  

       I hear from an inside source that this technology (and more) will soon be available with a new form of phone that is effectively internet but I am honour bound to say no more. I will say, however, that it kicks the crap out of WAP.
harderthanjesus, Aug 05 2004
  

       I looked around more closely and discovered: http://www.treasuremytext.com , which appears to do what I just described and claims to be successful with teens.
quantass, Aug 05 2004
  

       I once cooked up a auto-responder called cyrano 'at' his.ph just to provide a quick way to say something flattering to girls. ... of course if you need to rely on that for good 'lines', it can get a little sad...
pathetic, Aug 10 2004
  

       From Katie, Producer, www.treasuremytext.com.   

       Firstly, thanks for checking out our service and yes we have for some time been considering many of these issues. To add some more information to your lively debate....We do focus on SMS only based on the need of owners of older mobiles to store SMS messages away from their phones. The service is not meant to replace the SIM, and certainly for newer generation phones it is less important. Our users generally do not integrate email with their phones and tend to be high text users choosing to store their text specific content (relationships played out via SMS that they want to keep for posterity). For these users, I imagine emailing themselves their SMS isn't an option. The average heavy texter (in the UK at least) uses SMS as a cheap and private messaging option - often our users store texts whilst on a journey to work (or school) and may have less access to higer tech gadgets such as phones that dock, or even computers at work. For them, SMS is far removed form email and instant messaging - the phone is far from the computer. Regardless of their specific need, many people seem to conduct personally 'important communications' (be it relationships, friendships, or even legal affairs) by text and they don't see their phone as a permanent (or private) enough place to save stuff.   

       By the way, we recently launched an international version of the service so if you're outside of the UK you can now check it out for yourselves.   

       It's always interesting to hear the debate....
katielips, Sep 02 2004
  
      
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