Wish you were her

The first video shown on MTV in North America on 1 August 1981 was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the British group The Buggles. They sang about the golden days of radio, and a singer whose career is ended by television. It was a big hit, and pundits believed that it was some kind of media prophecy. But they were wrong. Video didn't kill radio. In fact, radio listening is now at an all-time high in many countries.

And that's why postcards may outlive these days of instant messaging. Once, people who went on long journeys sent postcards home to family and friends. In the English-speaking world, many of these contained just one sentence: "Having a lovely time" or "Wish you were here".

But why buy, write, stamp and post a card when you can tweet? Because a single spelling mistake in a message written too quickly could destroy your life, that's why. I recently heard about a man on a business trip who sent an SMS to his wife: "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were her." That was the end of their happy marriage.