[Gllug] [OT] Largest mailbox EVER!

[Tethys]

Bernard Peek writes:

>It is possible to apply a *limited* range of emphasis using ASCII but 
>HTML offers a wider range of much more effective methods. In the hands 
>of a reasonably competent typesetter those emphases can drastically 
>improve the effectiveness of text as a communications medium.

I challenge you to find me a reasonably competent typesetter[1] in my office
(apart from my good self, naturally :-) Or indeed, any office. I'd say
they account for less than a hundredth of a percent of the email sending
population.

>In the hands of an incompetent typesetter HTML can completely block
>all communication.

Thus proving the point that HTML email is undesirable for mainstream use.

>On balance, I'd say that people who prefer plain-text should probably
>use HTML and people who prefer to use HTML should probably be limited
>to plain text.

Yep, I'd agree with that...

Tet

[1] Of course, even a competent typesetter is severely hampered
    by modern tools. Windows (and hence Word) doesn't even handle
    ligatures, for fsck's sake. I used to work in the newspaper
    industry, and The Times was at the forefront of typographical
    goodness. The world's most popular typeface was designed for
    them, for example. But they replaced their Atex system with a
    Windows based one (at vast expense), and now they have a shoddy
    looking product[2]. I've ranted elsewhere about the decline of
    typographical standards, and Redmond is primarily to blame for
    much of it.

[2] To the point where they've had to redesign the lower case "f",
    making it narrower to avoid "fi" sequences looking awful without
    ligatures. They've done the same to a few other characters for
    the same reason.

-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at linux.co.uk
http://list.ftech.net/mailman/listinfo/gllug