BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Radio 4 (FM)

Stephen Fry on the Phone

Stephen Fry on the Phone: Episode 3: The Accidental Discovery of Text

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Accidental Discovery of Text

The Accidental Discovery of Text

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Stephen Fry on the Phone, The Accidental Discovery of Text

Stephen Fry explores how texting triumphed unexpectedly when paging was all the rage.

Meeting the brains behind the evolution of mobiles, Stephen learns how texting triumphed unexpectedly when paging was all the rage. From November 2011.

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.

There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.

Stephen Fry meets the men who created the first texting facility, as well as other less commercially successful products like taxifones, payphones on trains and in-car fax machines. He hears how texting triumphed unexpectedly when paging was all the rage, partly because paging services never seemed to work on Friday afternoon. On the earliest handsets there was no way of replying to a text. Later, just in case someone might want to reply, they included a short list of possible pre-set answers: yes, no and later. In the mid 90s texting was just one of countless facilities embedded within the new digital mobile phones: no one thought it that important. In 2010 alone, a staggering 6.1 trillion text messages were sent. And most of them received a reply.

Producer: Anna Buckley.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices of today

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Stephen Fry on the Phone

Episode 3: The Accidental Discovery of Text

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4