Hi, a newbie here 
While some of the community members were slightly suggesting here to upgrade an R1 with texting (SMS) possibility, I definitely believe that this is essential and was really surprised when it turned out that the only thing I could do with the SIM card was… turn it on (?!)
It’s not only about texting people, but first of all, it allows you to manage your account balance, such as top-ups and services. Of course, you can do this by removing the SIM card and inserting it into a device that allows it, but that’s highly inefficient and simply inconvenient