Sending Data In Bursts of SMS Messages

An anonymous reader writes "Canadian carrier Rogers has been experiencing some extreme loads of late, as researchers at the University of Waterloo investigate the potential for sending data spread across bursts of hundreds of text messages. They sent around 80,000 messages in the course of a project testing a new protocol able to cram 32KB into 250 messages sent from a BlackBerry, reaching a rate of 20 bytes per second. The group thinks its protocol could be useful in rural areas of the developing world where text messaging is the only affordable, reliable link."

Comments

Why bother?

[qoncept]

20 bytes a second? As in an SMS every 8 seconds? I can't think of a single situation I would consider this worthwhile. If it's a word document, why not send the plain text? If it's a JPEG, call the person and describe what you see. If it's anything else, drive to Starbucks for free wifi.

Sometimes when I get home from work my wife will be watching Judge Judy. When she tells me "there's nothing else on," it seems the best solution would be to turn the TV off.