I must be getting old . . .

Because I don't understand the point of this:

"From the patent application, which Apple filed in August 2007:

The GUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person. The set of messages (is) displayed in a chronological order. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch-screen display, the display of messages (is) scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture."

I can kind of understand texting, because sometime you're in a meeting. But IM'ing on a phone sounds like more work than just talking.