I disagree. For one thing, actually talking means both parties need to be available at the exact same moment. Which in my world is rare.
Also, I often have to communicate with several people at once. This is tough with voice calls. And conference calls aren't the answer either.
I love texting with Siri.
Hey, to each his own. I've never met Siri, personally, so maybe she's a sweetheart. You would know better than I.
Back to the thread topic, I think part of the generational "disconnect" about texting is that older people simply don't feel as much of a need to be connected all the time and have instantaneous communications. For example, I frequently take long trips and intentionally leave the phone at home, which would be unthinkable for most younger people.
I also think the great bulk of text messages are unnecessary. Checking them is a low priority for me, except for those from a very few family members and friends, who have a special tone. The rest I never gave permission to text me, anyway, so I feel no obligation to answer them right away (or at all). And when I'm busy, the BlackBerry ringer goes on "phone calls only" mode. If texts have to wait eight hours to be read, so be it. They can call me on voice on the exceedingly rare occasions that what they had to say was actually important.
But I feel the same way about phone calls, really. Very few people have my cell number: only some family members (mainly the ones I still like), a few friends, and a very few clients. The rest have either my business number or a Magic Jack number that I never answer. It's not even connected to a phone.
That's also the number that any business I deal with as a consumer has. If a company demands my cell number, I either cancel my account with them or give them a Pinger number (which I will never check again once the company's sent their verification text).
Rich