On 04/06/10 15:01, James Bensley wrote:
On 4 June 2010 14:31, Wayne StallwoodALUGlist@digimatic.co.uk wrote:
Or why use html in the first place ?
Because it allows you to present text and parts of conversation, questions, responses etc clearly and allows you to make key points more visible etc.
My main gripe (apart from obvious abuse some of which has been worked around by not downloading images automatically etc) is given email is a communication medium not a presentation one why should a message enforce layout etc on the client ?
I think it is perfectly possible to lay out a message in a way that is clear without resorting to colour etc.
Also HTML will render differently depending on the rendering engine used by the client, so increased use on things like smartphones means increased chances your message won't be rendered the way you intended anyway.
Ultimately I don't mind using plain text but HTML is often advantageous. However, in this "mordern day and age", I would of thought that within a couple of years (max?) all lists could be HTML and there would be no need to use plain text? (Purely based on the advances in mobile computing, the price of data transfers coming down etc).
You say that but given the amount of people that now read email on smartphones the price of data has actually for some people gone up a bit. Both in terms of available bandwidth and cost. Not forgetting that the list bandwidth is provided for free by a generous member at their own cost who I am sure wouldn't appreciate the bandwidth utilisation most likely more than doubling for this "free" service.
If we allowed html email on the list then aside from the bandwidth cost we would also have less readability as every message could have different formatting..fancy backgrounds...highlighted text or hopeless fonts and if the messages don't include a plain text part then we also have issues with the list archive.
Don't get me wrong...HTML email has its place and I have no problem with people using it for person to person communication if they feel the features are important. But I see no value that it adds to this list.