kilopascal wrote:
>
> 2002-02-06
>
> I wasn't suggesting an upgrade to a newer and fancier computer. Many older
> computers are upgradable simply by installing bigger hard drives and more
> memory....
> Even if someone won't upgrade, there are still other alternatives. Such as
> getting a FREE Yahoo account and using it strictly for the list-server....
> I get about 50+ emails a day, about 60 % of them HTML advertisements. I
> have a slow internet connection and they don't bother me. But, I often
> wonder how frustrating receiving hundreds of HTML e-mail ads a week must be
> to those that have out-dated software. I can't believe that my
> once-every-so-often HTML postings really makes that much of a difference
> compared to the hundreds of others.
Your comments above tell me that you have missed the points in my
message, John. You are still suggesting that people upgrade their
systems, change the way they receive email, or both. Your justifications
seem to be that those options are available and that you personally
don't mind receiving the kind of email I spoke about. Let me be more
explicit.
Point: Nobody on this list should be expected to upgrade their system
or change their method of receiving email in order to deal with HTML
messages and forwarding of web pages since those are not needed to carry
out our discussions. Plain text bodies almost always suffice; colors,
enhanced fonts, and the like add nothing essential to the message.
Forwarding links to web pages along with commentary on their essence is
more useful than cold-forwarding of web pages; it also reflects greater
thought on the part of the sender. In both cases, simple text and
forwarding of URLs only, bandwidth is reduced significantly and the
alternatives are wasteful. You have put forth no reason at all other
than personal wont to justify sending messages in html or to justify
sending unsolicited web pages, undoubtedly because they offer no
advantage over the simple alternative of plain text.
Point: It is presumptious to assume that people can or wish to do any
amount of upgrading whatsoever or to change their way of receiving mail
to accomodate your habits. You know absolutely nothing about the
circumstances and reasons behind their requests and they are not
obligated to tell you what those circumstances or reasons are.
Point: Your personal feelings about receiving html messages and
unsolicited web pages have no bearing on the matter. The feelings of
others on the list do. That is often called "netiquette". Before
computers became pandemic, it was called "good manners" and
"consideration for the feelings of others". Since you have no overriding
or compelling reason to persist in sending undesireable messages despite
the feelings of others on the list, then you ought not do so.
I have an extremely capable computer system and excellent connectivity.
I am asking that you send your messages only in plain text and that you
forward, with germane comments, URLs to web sites you have found rather
than forwarding the web pages. That would accomodate me without limiting
your ability to communicate your thoughts and without costing you extra
time or effort. If you feel that your thoughts need the benefit of html
formatting or that these unsolicited web pages adequately convey your
point of view by themselves, then perhaps that tells us how valuable you
think that your thoughts are to us here. You can put a dress on a dog,
but it's still a dog.
Jim
--
Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!"
James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/
10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
