Vernon Schryver wrote:
What good is HTML based email if it cannot run
scripts or even contain links to other HTML content?
Well, there's basic formatting:
-
Simple font variations (italics, bold, color, font) are an easy way to
add a bit of expressiveness to your text.
-
Everybody says that the problem with email is that it's not expressive
enough.
-
To compensate, we've got an elaborate set of conventions for imitating
what you can do in print and face-to-face (smileys, *asterisks* for emphasis,
etc.).
-
But new users don't know these conventions.
-
HTML offers the ability to do the same thing more comprehensibly.
Actual smiley faces, italics for emphasis (just like people are used to
seeing in print), headings.
-
And, of course, lists and tables are amazingly useful.
And even simple links (never mind forms, applets, etc.) are great for,
say, workflow applications. When I worked for Netscape, HR made
great use of HTML mail in the internal network. When I wanted
to take some vacation time, I filled out a form on the HR site;
they would send mail to my manager, with one link to approve and one to
deny.
Much easier than paper-based systems, or even non-email-based
online systems (since the vacation request comes into the inbox you already
check, instead of making you go someplace else).
--
/===============================================================\
|John Stracke | http://www.ecal.com |My opinions are my own. |
|Chief Scientist |==============================================|
|eCal Corp. |Whose cruel idea was it for the word "lisp" to|
|[EMAIL PROTECTED]|have an "S" in it? |
\===============================================================/
