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You do know that this has been standard functionality on all the US carriers for years anyway, right? There is absolutely nothing useful about this service. One quick Google search can get you the specific domain to email to for any carrier. They all follow the same format, [number]@carrier.com. This service is about 5 years behind the times. I've been emailing to SMS since before the iPhone.

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For sending text messages that is correct. It may not be clear enough that the purpose of e-mailing a [NUMBER]@thinbox.com address is not to send an SMS to someone's phone. The initial SMS is just a way to ASK for the recipient's e-mail address and create a mapping that works for future e-mails. So essentially it just couples two separate types of "addresses" for a person into a single address.

Also, after your number is coupled with an e-mail address, you will not receive any more SMS messages. E-mails sent to [NUMBER]@thinbox.com will automatically be sent to the e-mail address provided

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