On Tuesday, September 19, 2000, 3:12:16 PM, A. wrote:
ACM>>> The only plus for using a variable width font is a purely
ACM>>> selfish one, ie, visual appeal.
A>> Here I don't follow you.
> It's a daring statement, yes :-); but I think it's true. Why do you use
> a proportional font over a fixed width font. You prefer how it looks,
> right?
Well, there's at least one practical reason: to accommodate more
words in one line. Why? Because one might have a smaller window.
> It's the one that you want to read your messages and compose your
> mail with, right? How does the recipient come into the picture? Where's
> the consideration for the recipient in this decision? The recipient is
> not involved, hence it's selfish, or a sender centric choice.
I don't really get this, either. How one read one's mail is for sure
of no body's concern. As to sending mail, those who use proportional
fonts usually don't send anything that need exact positioning, and
they do, they can always switch to mono fonts to do so.
> *--------------------------------------------------*
> * Try looking at this block of text with a *
> * proportional font and tell me what it looks like *
> *--------------------------------------------------*
Fine example as it is, let's be honest: we don't need such exact
positioning very often. And if a user wants to read that with
proportional fonts, I see no reason against it.
> But, what font will you use to compose mail? :-)
> The thing is that the reverse of what I wrote above applies.
> a) If you use a variable width font to create a box with text as I
> did above, then for the recipient to see it as such, they would
> have to be using the *same* variable width font that you used.
> OTOH, if I did it, you would need to use *any* fixed width font of
> your choice. It offers you *and* the recipient more flexibility.
> Not selfish. :-)
As I said, very few, if any, users who use proportional fonts would
do such things, and they can always resort to mono fonts to do it,
since there's no "proportional fonts only" editor/email clients.
Even there are less computer-savvy people who though everyone is
using the same proportional fonts as they do, it's only a matter of
a little education. Reason with them and they'll know. Since there's
no way to force people not to use other email programs, I see no
practical reason to force people to use mono fonts in TB, either.
As I've said many times, I personally like mono fonts just fine. But
I see no point waging a war against people who prefer proportional
fonts.
--
Best regards,
Ming-Li
The Bat! 1.47 Beta/3 | Win2k SP1
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