1) Filters?
You still have to sift through whatever topic you were interested in, and don't get a clear idea of the thread over time.
Filters: don't deal with the problem, they just put them into another folder...
2) I'm in my email app too, but the most when I am at work - this email is meant for work, and some bosses don't take kindly to seeing something they don't consider work related. If I use another email/webmail, I still have to work at it like a forum - logging in, checking through and catching up on my own time without worry of problems with work.
3) Quicker to read email? Not possible.
A thread is a composition of numerous emails if you will - I can scroll through them browsing rather then having to click on individual messages and not getting a clear timeline of a discussion.
Efficiency: Considerably less when in email.
4) Would you like a little cheese with that whine?
I never said it was perfect much less instantaneous, but it's not like posting in a forum takes 5 minutes and a hearty breakfast.
5) Here we are with the 2nd mention of simply "filters"...
6) That is one way to look at how a forum works, but it also mean you can leave it for a time and come back without getting too far behind.
Glass half empty, glass half full...
7) I can search for whatever I want in the forum - who a post was to, from, a given string be that the topic name or in the body of the response, by time, etc. depending on the forum criteria. And I don't waste my processes doing it...
With a forum, I don't have to hunt through an archive either - it's already in front of me as I already mentioned.
Response time: Less on a forum then email.
8) And what impact does a PIM have with a mailing list anyway? None, unless you schedule your responses... Change/toggle windows/desktops/etc., which you probably do anyways.
The #8 point: worthless, not priceless...
9) Want the post/reply? There's numerous options - copy/paste into text editor of choice, email the post yourself, bookmark the link.
Take off the blinders...
10) If you racked your brain for anymore, I'm sure it would just be "filters" after the third mention... ;)
I don't know what forum(s) you've been to, but:
a) You didn't give them the time to get used to it (most likely from my impression so far)
b) The forum(s) setup sucked pretty bad
e) All of the above
In conclusion - your evidence is far from overwhelming.
Thanks,
Andrew
-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron J. Seigo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 11:24 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: (clug-talk) Website and Forum?
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Hash: SHA1
On Friday 06 December 2002 01:15, Andrew Barnes wrote:
> And exactly how is a mailing list so efficient? With a graphic
1) filters
2) i'm already in my email app all day, i'm not in the 20+ webforums i'd have
to subsititute that with with even a similar frequency and never could be.
3) email is quicker to read through than a web forum thread as i can use the
keyboard to read through my email (+/- to jump forward/back, Del to remove,
etc...) and read msgs are marked as such so i don't waste time with them. i
just hop from one unread to the next, and not just within the same forum but
across ALL the mailling lists and email i receive.
4) it's quick to reply to emails since i don't have to wait for a web form to
be sent and then use the mouse for mundane activities like "send" (hello
Ctrl-Enter!)
5) filters
6) the messages arrive when they are sent: in other words it's push, not pull,
which fits perfectly for this sort of communication. i never waste time "just
checking the board" the messages
7) i can search through the last X months of email locally (which means fast
and powerful) and only defer to the archive when necessary
8) email works with the rest of my desktop: scheduler, addressbook, etc.
9) it's easier to save individual messages/threads from my mail app
10) filters
i bet if i racked my brain i could come up with another 10. but the bottom
line is this: for someone who is even moderatly versed in the task of reading
email and has even a moderately decent email application, they will be more
efficient with email than a web forum. this probably means the difference is
neither here nor there for newbies, but it is for those who know what they
are doing and are busy doing it.
- --
Aaron J. Seigo
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler"
- Albert Einstein
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