Re: [Epic] Airstrip card/terrain idea

From: Andy Skinner <askinner_at_...>
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 16:10:10 -0500

Chris White wrote:
> Well, is <snip>ing really necessary? On my E-mail (MS Exchange), it shows
> by this symbol: > or >> or even >>> for a third generation which message
> is part of which.

That's just part of the problem. It is great when we have indentation
or > symbols to show who quoted what. But the other part of the
problem is that the mail messages just grow and grow, sometimes
with only one line on the bottom. That means you are transmitting
a lot of noise for a little signal.

We need some context for things we say, so you should quote some,
preferably with a quoting mechanism like you mention above. But
it isn't too hard to go through and edit out the parts you aren't
responding too directly. And having the poster spend a little
time doing that can save many readers a little less time skimming
through stuff they've seen already.

Plus, it is extra traffic for the machine hosting the list, extra
memory for everyone receiving it. Some people don't have that
memory. It also takes longer to download/read messages for people
on internet providers, and might increase their costs. So there
are quite legitimate reasons to do this.

andy
askinner_at_...
Received on Fri Aug 08 1997 - 21:10:10 UTC