On Mar 24, 6:13 pm, AF6AY wrote:
Paul Schleck posted on 24 Mar 08:
AF6AY writes:

According to this recent demonstration on the Tonight Show with Jay
Leno:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhsSgcsTMd4

Ahem...quibble mode on...that little bit on the Tonight Show was
a 'setup' gig that employed two young local male actors as the
(described) "text messaging experts"

No, it wasn't. They were not actors.

In the clip, the sending text messager is described by Jay Leno as
"the country's fastest text messager" and his name is given as
"Ben Cook". He says his record is sending a 160 character message
in 57 seconds. Those facts can be verified by watching the clip.

160 characters in 57 seconds at 5 characters per word works out to
approximately 33.68 wpm.

160 characters in 57 seconds at 6 characters per word (allowing for
spaces between words) works out to approximately 28.07 wpm.

The current Guinness Book of World Records for a 160 character
message is 41 seconds. That works out to about 46.83 and 39.02 wpm for
5 and 6 characters-per-word, respectively.

All are well below the world-record Morse Code speed, or the speed of
skilled Morse Code operators.

The 160 character message used in the text-message speed-record
attempts
is a standard message previously disclosed, so that all attempts use
the same
message. The Leno test used a message unknown to any of the
participants.

but the two hams (one of which
would very soon become marketing director for Heil Sound) were
real. That is the input I got directly from a reliable staffer on
the Tonight Show.

Whom you do not name, so his information cannot be verified
independently.

Took a few phone calls to get that information
but it is an advantage of living inside the entertainment capital of
the USA (aka Los Angeles, CA)...and the NBC western Hq is only
about 5 miles south of my place, down Hollywood Way to Alameda and
then east about a mile.

What difference does that make?

That whole bit was really a send-up on the
popular fad of text messaging done by teeners and young adults.
That bit is about as 'real documentary' as Leno's send-ups on the
'street interviews' with ordinary (apparently clueless) younger
folk on various kinds of knowledge. In short, ONLY for gag purposes.

Sorry, but I've got to call baloney on this one. The individual who
appeared on the Tonight Show who sent the text message was actually Ben
Cook, and not an actor. Ben held the world's record for fastest text
messaging:

If you say so, then it is so.

No, it has been verified by several independent sources, including
people who
were actually there and part of the test.

That 'recent demonstration' was over a year ago, was it not?

Yes - what difference does that make? The video clip can be
reviewed for confirmation.

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" is an entertainment vehicle. It is
not a documentary source of absolute facts.

Yet the facts are clear: Neither the text message sender nor the Morse
Code operators were actors, according to named people who were
actually there.

The two Morse code operators, Chip Margelli, K7JA, and Ken Miller,
K6CTW, have attested to this being an actual contest with an actual,
previously unknown, message to send, which was sent both by Morse code,
and by text messaging. And there's no disputing that fast Morse code
would always beat an SMS text message of the same length.

I have corresponded with Mr. Margelli in his new position as
Director of Marketing for Heil Sound...about Heil products, not
about this alleged 'test' or 'contest' on the 'Leno show.'

Yet you use the word "alleged" and imply he is wrong when he says
the text-messager was not an actor.

I have
NO complaints about Mr. Margelli's nor Mr. Miller's capabilities
with manual morse code communications.

OK so far.

I only have complaints
about this entertainment gig being used as 'factual demonstration'
of any comparison of manual morse code versus any other mode.

Why? What are the complaints? What was not factual about the
demonstration?

Do you think that text messaging is faster than Morse Code done
by skilled operators?

The text-messaging sender has been identified as a record-holder
named Ben Cook. The record text-messge speed is below that
of skilled Morse Code operators, and the text-messager simply
lost the speed race. Not just on the show, but in rehearsals.

The two Morse Code operators, K7JA and K6CTW, have publicly and
privately said it was a real test. Are they not telling the truth?
Why should
anyone believe your account of an unnamed ex-staffperson, and not
believe
two identified people who were actual participants?

Two named witnesses would appear to trump one anonymous source.

Therefore, your anonymous "reliable staffer" seems anything but.

I cannot argue your statements or 'baloney' comments in this
venue.

Why not?

What's wrong with "this venue"?

My original source is now working for another show.
No more access to Tonight show records is possible. If you or
any other morse code mode champion say it was a 'real test,'
then it must be a real test.

What was wrong with the test? Given the evidence, why would any
reasonable person say it was not a real test?

As to the efficacy claim that manual morse code communications
beats cellular telephone textual-only (by keypad) communications,
I do not know of a single communications service or provider
that uses 'text' (via cellphone) for two-way communications.

Mine does.

When I receive a text message, the cellphone display shows "reply"
in the lower left corner. All I have to do is push the right button,
type
in my message, and push "send". The recipient can text me back, too.

That's two-way communications. I've had long conversations via text
messaging that way. It's slow but it works. Effective in noisy
environments
or when having a voice call is otherwise not the best choice.

Text messaging is a useful communications tool. So is Morse Code.
I use both.

Of what point was this entertainment venue 'test' actually proving?

It showed that old methods aren't necessarily slower or less useful
than
newer ones.

In the first part of the clip, Jay Leno selects a young lady from the
audience,
talks to her a bit, and asks if she thinks Morse Code or text
messaging is
faster. The young lady says text messaging is faster. The audience
agrees.

Jay Leno then brings out the "country's fastest text messager" (not an
actor) and the two Morse Code operators, introduces them, and explains
the test.
The audience and the young lady are confident that the new technology
of text
messaging will be faster than the old Morse Code.

Yet when the test is actually run, Morse Code proves to be faster, and
produces
a hard-copy printout for verification. The world-record-holder could
not beat a couple
of amateurs going at a fraction of the Morse Code record speed.

Not only is the bit entertaining, it proves the point of newer not
always being faster.

73 de Jim, N2EY