T9word for the win
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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There was a significant period of time where I was faster with t9 than the physical keyboard on my original Droid.
T9 was eons better than trying to cram all 26 letters of the alphabet on a touchscreen
To this day I still feel superior for knowing how to use the T9 when everyone else was mashing buttons like plebs.
Plus you could keep the phone in you pocket while you texted in class, meaning the teacher couldn't see you
It wasn't necessarily unlimited texting either. Some plans had a fixed amount of texts per month.
$0.10 per sms message. Even those you received and had no control over.
What
People texting you could cost you money. Seriously.
This is something we are too European to understand
In 2003 Americans almost didn't text because everything in the US is absurdly monetised while Europe was like "Well, you're paying for the subscription. Knock yourself out texting."
I used to live in the US back then, and it was cheaper to leave voice messages than text. So, I did. One time I called my sister in Europe, and since she didn't answer, I left a voice message. She called me back later, pissed off, because she had to call her provider to set up her voice mailbox, because "normal people just text when there's no answer." These days, she sends me long voice messages on Whatsapp, which I ignore for weeks at a time. Oh, how the tables have turned...
Sometimes it was free for a few hours after 9pmish.
Calls too, if I'm remembering correctly.
You're damn right I'm using up all 140 characters in this text.
This just unlocked a core memory of "prank me when you're here." As in, call me a hang up before I answer so it's free because texting or answering the call would cost money.
And then the first time you learned about T9. Game changer.
It took some getting used to, but it was vastly superior to the new-age Morse Code OP is describing. Two words have the same numbers? "Next!"
I kinda miss being able to type under the table without looking. T9 was great
And limited letter too, that's why in that era everything can be shortened will be shortened.
K thx bye
Germans were like: GLG HDL BB and shorthened 40 symbols/spaces down to 10
no they're just typing welsh
Back when cell phones had physical buttons, I used to be able to type out entire sentences without even looking. Now get off my lawn!!
what's cool about t9 is that you can also cipher shit pretty easily and most people wouldn't bother to decipher it. 94281702665022688081047084280968022602576024743707448077388903274590263066780736753096853618026843708603324743704810
I never used the t9 text prediction crap. I multi-pressed every character into existence with >5wpm. With the phone still in my pocket.
Smashing the keys so fast the phone is still typing when you stop.
What a powerfully specific memory
That takes me back. Indeed that's what happened. Of course on a Nokia.
a man of culture right here. Salute!
I want this for my tv remote so much! Navigating through an on screen keyboard with arrow keys is just horrible..
It's insane that manufacturers make smart TV remotes without a built in keyboard.
I was faster on that keyboard than on qwerty on smartphones. :(
Also, I hate T9, always disabled >:(
i still need to get a small, foldable portable keyboard for my phone. that would be nice.
T9 texting also existed, with various levels of success. I remember trying it a bit and it did generally work but at least with the phone I had it was pretty annoying when it didn't. Should have used the 1 key to toggle T9 on/off and it would have been so much better.
I have a brick phone now actually and it doesn't even support T9 texting which is a shame, but I use it so rarely that it doesn't matter too much. It just exists so that I have a phone because our stupid society requires having a phone number.
I still have nightmares about dialing rotary phones. I miss old texting because I could do it without looking.
Well sure, gotta keep your eyes on the road and a knee on the wheel (because the other hand shoving a burger in your mouth)
You can do rotary phones without looking. The text messaging, though, not quite there yet.
I found it easier back then. The tactile nature meant that you didn't have to even glance at your phone to be able to type out whole sentences.
Yep. I could send messages with my hand in my pocket.
I couldn't read them though.
I used to keep my eyes in my pocket too!
I had that Prada KE850 phone. It came out before the iPhone and had a capacitive touchscreen. It also came with this ABC keyboard. Texting was, once you knew where all the buttons were, a whole lot faster than with buttons. No pressing any buttons for 2 millimeters, just some quick finger tapping that stopped at the edge of the screen. Dual wielding the pointy fingies or some acrobatics with the right one.
I’d go back.
I only got it because the iPhone wasn’t available at that time
In that golden moment when the Blackberry was the hottest hot shit
A was one press. B was two. C, that fella was three presses. D? Not five, back to one. Texting was tricky like that