Texting has been the instant communications du jour since mobile phones first got their QWERTY keyboards. As common as it is to see people sending missives at rapid fire with their mobile devices, the SMS is going by the wayside only to be replaced by Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter as a means of mobile communications.

This is a first for texts, believe it or not. The New York Times is saying that, according to recent report, the American wireless market saw the number of texts sent waning each month. Of course, it’s all speculation about Facebook and Twitter (News - Alert), and while the latter is an omnidirectional way of communicating with others, it is certainly a way to get messages out to a broader audience. Nowadays, smartphones are including these services as built-in apps, so users are more likely to utilize them as part of their overall mobile communications experience.

Texting may also be on the way out because mobile phones are doing much more than they used to. People are doing everything on their mobile devices, from shopping to networking, using them as virtual office hubs, GPS devices and even as health monitors. The evolution of smartphones paved the way for RCS, rich communications services, which goes far beyond voice and SMS through chat, video sharing, file transfers and so on.

People are slowing ditching their broadband plans at home for their mobile devices because they just do more. RCS provides a way to communicate far better than regular ol’ SMS. It allows for easier and faster instant messages, making SMS seem rather legacy and slow. It also adds an element to instant communications that SMS can’t, and that’s real time interaction, like Skype (News - Alert). RCS also allows for multitasking, a task that some data plans just can’t handle. People can IM, call and use apps all at the same time.

With RCS providing a host of other options, it’s no wonder SMS is on the decline.

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