Texting Ban Not Done Deal Yet

If you've followed this space at all in the past couple months you've probably noticed multiple posts on the NCAA's wholesale texting ban as it gets passed by every level of the NCAA bureacracy. One might think that surely this rule has been passed and passed again and is now just a rule set to kick in August 1st. One would be wrong:

Thirty-four schools have asked for an override of a decision by the rules-making Board of Directors to prohibit the practice, limiting electronically transmitted correspondence to recruits to e-mail and faxes. ... Thirty requests were needed to throw the rules change back to the board, which meets Aug..9. If it doesn't rescind or amend its decision, all 326 Division I schools will vote on the issue during the NCAA's annual convention in January. A five-eighths majority is needed to override.

So take heart, cell phone companies of the world, your best customers may not be out of business yet. Even if the ban stands up to this protest, it's likely to be a cosmetic change. In a world suffused with Sidekicks and Blackberries where even my $50 Samsung comes fully email-ready, mildly irritating correspondence will just move to still-unregulated email; how long before it becomes a de-facto text message capability? Answer: not long.