On Fri, 2007-02-16 at 18:39 +0000, Mark Ridley wrote:
I'm not trying to stir up an argument here, but why do people hate HTML mail so much? Most modern mail tools display HTML just fine, and the overhead needed to send a bulkier mail message is negligible.
If you want to wrap the text in html tags to do stuff with formatting then so be it (as long as you also include a plaintext version in case I am trying to read it on something that doesn't support HTML)
I have no particular dislike for the capability , just for the way it is frequently used.
Things like (in no particular order)
Amateurish email stationary (I mean if I wanted a message to look like it was written on a page of a ring-bound notepad I would have modified my email client to render it that way) The formatting of an email message is inconsequential to it's content so what are people trying to achieve ? I just want to read my messages in the most coherent and legible format.
It was one of the best vectors for both spam harvesting (or at least verifying valid addresses) and viruses for a while. Why would anyone ever have thought it was a good idea to add the capability to execute stuff or download external images in a messaging system. Particularly when this can happen without user interaction in the preview pane.
Email that looks like a minime version of the senders website, complete with corporate branding/logos etc. Provide a link to the site in the sig if you want. Then I can take a look when I have the time to browse the content at my leisure, wrapping your message up in loads of other content just makes it harder for me to read what you are saying.
But mostly...where does it end ? How about embedding flash objects in email. A nice spinny corporate logo thing ? Perhaps a link to a youtube vid as my signature ? Perhaps even render the whole text as a flash object so that it has some "cute" effect like glinting in the sun..best add some music too that starts to play when you open the email :-)
Phew..thanks for giving me the opportunity to vent that lot, I feel loads better now.
PS. whilst we are on the subject of email do you expect whoever manages the list archives to make sure your message is not archived ? As the disclaimer at the bottom seems to not allow it to be put in a public archive (or at least if it is nobody outside the list is allowed to read it) *grin*
Honestly I am not having a dig there, just thought it would be fun to point out why I am also not a fan of mail disclaimers.
Also why are they always at the bottom ? If you are not the intended recipient by the time you have got to the bit that says you were not supposed to read the message it is too late.