Text Google for the 411

Google seems to be everywhere. It is probably the one site that I have to teach my kids to know to get anywhere. Perhaps they need a “Google Kids” which offers games, safe content, etc.

Anyways, this is more of a tip than anything about healthcare, but I was fascinated to find out about Google’s SMS service (aka text message) yesterday. I tried it a few times this morning right before I got on the flight. If you go to Google’s page at sms.google.com, you can find out more.

All you really need to know is that if you send a text message to Google (466453) you get information back almost instantly.

For example, I sent a text message saying “weather Boston” and before I could even type my next message, I had the weather report. Then I sent in another text for “AA 1577” (American Airlines flight 1577) and instantly had information on flight status and what gate it was leaving from. You can do it for scores (e.g., “Red Sox”) and many other things. If you are like me and on the go a lot and hate to pay fees for 411, this is great.