Hi Marck Tuesday, September 9, 2003, 12:13:35 PM, you wrote:
D>>>> Hmmm. While some people who use HTML mail may abuse it, it is D>>>> the spammers etc themselves who are at fault, not HTML, I D>>>> think. MDP>>> That is not correct. The fault lies in the ability to write MDP>>> over-formatted messages. D>> I think it *is* correct. MDP> You believe the statement "HTML spam is the reason that HTML mail is MDP> despised" is correct? Surely not! Nope. I believe the statement "While some people who use HTML mail may abuse it, it is the spammers etc themselves who are at fault, not HTML, I think" is correct. It is the spammers who are at fault, not HTML, like the original poster said. Your post seemed to say that the spammers are *not* at fault. Looks like a miscommunication to me :) D>> The ability is not at fault. MDP> I didn't say it was. The ability to *write over-formatted messages* MDP> - thus to *use* the facility /freely/ - is at fault, not the MDP> "ability" itself - the provision of the facility. The selective MDP> quote is leading to a misunderstanding. I should probably have made MDP> myself clearer. You're saying that if HTML mail weren't so easy to use, it would be ok? I still disagree. I don't think the ability to use it freely is at fault. The actual fault lies with the *person* who abuses this capability. If HTML weren't so easy to use (and thereby abuse), we'd have web developers up in arms. D>> If someone chooses to take it over the edge, that's his D>> prerogative, and his fault, not the system's. MDP> That's a paraphrase of what I actually said. It didn't seem like that. miscommunication indeed :) MDP> Although I don't MDP> consider it his prerogative, since his intent is to impose it on me. MDP> There is a responsibility issue there. I agree. D>> HTML provides a capability - either use it or abuse it. MDP> The problem is that more abuse than use, when even just the use is MDP> widely unwelcome. Widely? Well, ISTM the truth of the matter is the MDP> vast majority are *completely indifferent* on this issue - they use MDP> OE - it gives them HTML - they use it and have no idea whether they MDP> like to or not. Exactly. MDP> Of those expressing a preference you will find the MDP> majority of them *against* the indiscriminate use of HTML in email. I wouldn't know. I've never talked to people about this. D>> The only reason I'd want to do something like that would be to D>> change the font to, say, Verdana which has great on-screen D>> legibility. Nothing outlandish. MDP> I would never do that. The person receiving my message has a MDP> favourite reading font. Not always. Most people stick with what the default is. A lot wouldn't know that Verdana might make their life a little easier. I think of it as a harmless and possibly beneficial suggestion. But I agree that they should be free to use what they want, which is why I don't use HTML mail. Cheers, -Vishal ________________________________________________ Current version is 2.00 | "Using TBUDL" information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
