On Tue, Feb 23, 1999 at 04:58:52PM -0800, Chuq Von Rospach wrote:
> Seems to me it's in the best interest of everyone if the people who
> know most about mail lists drive the technology forward instead of
> trying to hold it back, because otherwise, we'll be like the people
> who built B-news, and now wonder why nobody listens to them about how
> USENET ought to operate.
Point of order: I've never said -- here or anywhere else -- that I want
to "hold it back", where the "it" is technology in general.
In fact, I want to push forward as hard or harder than anyone -- just
in a different direction.
And using different tools that are thoughtfully constructed for
the purpose at hand, not casually deployed simply because they
already exist.
My objections, such as they are, are clearly not with the idea of
pushing forward, and any suggestion that they are is an insulting and
intellectually dishonest fabrication.
My thinking is that careful thought, design, and planning
should go into pushing forward, and I have not yet seen what
I consider to be a satisfactory (or even minimal) amount of that
take place on this particular topic (use of HTML for email).
Show me a cost-benefit analysis, or show me a usage study that
demonstrates enhanced comprehension, or show me a working prototype
that integrates it with existing services, or show me *all* of them --
but show me *something* that has had been or can be subjected to
rigorous analysis and peer review.
But don't just expect me to buy into the idea because some people
are doing it or because some people think they should do it or because
it's possible to it. That's not enough of a persuasive argument, in fact,
it's no argument at all.
(Appropriate quote that showed up today on the qotd mailing list:
"... [person] said "Well, it seems to have a lot of momentum."
Of course it has momentum. You gain momentum very fast when
you're rolling downhill out of control. What I want here is
not momentum. What I want is progress."
- Elizabeth Zwicky)
---Rsk
Rich Kulawiec
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
