On Thursday, January 2, 2003, at 04:23 , Jeremy Derr wrote: > Not all email programs can read Rich Text. Even better, even those that > DO read/write stylized e-mail do not all use the same standard. Some > use HTML to do stylized text. Others use "Rich Text Format". Others do > other, weirder things.
This is why I refuse to use anything but plain text E-mail when sending mail from home. There is no standard for special formatting, so plain ASCII text is the only format that I can be CERTAIN will be displayed properly regardless of what kind of computing platform and mail client it encounters. The only place where I use special formatting in my E-mail is at work for in-house communications. Everyone there is using Microsoft Outlook, so I know full well if I send an E-mail internally, the special formatting will work perfectly at the other end regardless of the format I choose. Actually, I don't use Microsoft Outlook's default rich text format. I use HTML. Why? Because Apple Mail can't interpret Microsoft Outlook's special formatting, but it CAN interpret HTML mail. Since the only person I communicate regularly with using my work E-mail outside the company is my fiancee at home, and since my fiancee at home is using THIS computer, at least I know using HTML will allow the formatting to come up properly HERE AND at work, since both Outlook AND Apple Mail can interpret HTML. IMHO, if there's going to be a standard for E-mail formatting, I think it should be HTML. And why not? HTML is already the standard formatting technique for the World Wide Web. It seems logical to me to make HTML the standard formatting for E-mail as well. > Some of my email accounts require me to use an old UNIX mail program > called Pine. I remember PINE. I accessed my first E-mail account through it. It's a remarkably well built interface, even by today's standards, and particularly elegant for a menu driven, text-based interface. HTML format interpretation is already implemented in text-only UNIX browsers. All the developers of PINE would have to do to make PINE compatible with HTML would be to incorporate the rendering engine for one of these browsers into its text interpreter. Once PINE is rendered capable of INTERPRETING HTML mail, the most important hurdle would be crossed. ADDING special formatting to messages being COMPOSED could come later. However, until HTML or one of the other formats actually becomes an "official" standard, I think I'll stick to ASCII text. At least that way I know my message will get there intact. John A. Ardelli Owner/Moderator BIFIDA-L: The Original Spina Bifida Discussion List The Crystal Corner - The Original Dark Crystal Discussion List -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
