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Who invented SMS?

 

Know about the ‘Father of SMS’ - Matti Makkonen, the man who never patented his invention!

The greatest mobile innovation ever – TEXTING, has given us the freedom to have private conversations in public and has given rise to a new kind of shorthand language altogether. It is the ease and popularity of texting that have given rise to platforms like Twitter and applications like WhatsApp.

So who came up with this concept? Read on to know about the man:

1. Matti Makkonen, a Finnish engineer, has been credited with the invention of TEXT messaging.


2. Being a man of a humble nature, he never patented his invention. He has always claimed it to be the joint effort between his colleagues and himself.

 

3. According to Matti, he didn't make a patentable invention. He was just the first one to notice the need and then work with a team of engineers to give rise to the biggest invention of Telecom history.

 

4. Makkonen still holds a big name in the telecom world and is called the 'Father of SMS' and the pioneer of the texting world.

 

5. He rarely gave interviews and disliked to be called the founder of texting.

 

6. He pitched the idea of text messaging while enjoying a pizza in Copenhagen in 1984.

 

7. The first text message was sent eight years later on December 2, 1992. It was from a computer to a mobile and simply read "Merry Christmas".

 

8. Texting as a real service came to be used in 1994 when Nokia released its first text messaging enabled phone.

 

9. In an interview with BBC via texts, he stated that he himself wasn't a big fan of SMS language and abbreviations and said it's a different language evolving everyday.

 

10. Makkonen worked for Nokia Networks and Tele Finland, and was CEO of Finnet from 2003 to 2005.

 

11. In 2008 he was named a winner of The Economist's Innovation Awards, for his work on the message standard.

 

12. Makkonen died on June 26, 2015 at the age of 63 following a serious illness.

 

Thank you, Matti Makkonen, for your work. You'll be remembered forever!


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