The emoji was invented in 1999?

[rslade]

Really?

I mean, come on.  Maybe the word emoji, but the idea came from smilies, aka emoticons, long before and I was reviewing books on the topic before 1999 ...

[ericgeater]

I learned about IRC smileys... but my computers were always so far behind that new features* were unsupported until several years had passed.

*like emojis

---

[CraginS]

Hmmm. The last section of the linked article tells about the "emoji d1ck." That just sounds SO wrong.

[dang (isc)2 censor said

"You used a bad word, d1ck, in the body of your post. Please clean up the body before posting."

What if my given name were Richard?}

BTW, given that the article attributes the true graphical emoji to a Japanese originator I note the the Japanese also improved greatly on the original sideways smileys:

🙂     😉    ;-(    etc

with their much more expressive Japanese upright smileys:

\(*7*)/

\(*o*)/ 

\(^o*}/

etc.