At 09:33 AM 12/18/2005, you wrote:
>On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:40:26 -0500 in 43A582EA.5010407@gmail.com Joe
>Polk <listuser.jav@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> > Hey, I understand that top-posting or not-posting is really import to
> > some people but to go so far as to say it's harmful is a bit of a
> > stretch. For some it's just following the natural order of email
> > clients, most of which cursor the top.
>
>They place the cursor at the top to encourage the trimming of the
>quoted material, not so that people can just start typing merrily away
>without formatting their post correctly.
>
>The really bad ones also place the sig above the quoted material and
>make people think that they should start typing there. The 'natural
>order of email clients', as you put it, existed long before a certain
>company flooded the market with a client that exposed newcomers to
>these bad habits before they had learned from the old-timers the
>sensible way of doing things that had been around since the dawn of
>email.
zat right? back in '86, when i first got on the net (am i an old
timer?) i used elm. cursor at the top of replies. i 'top posted' back
then sometimes. only since 2000 or so has there been this annoying
catterwalling about how 'bad' topposting is. sure, on a mailing list,
it can make a difference. i've never had much trouble understanding
messages that were top posted though. it's not that huge a cognitive
disconnect. i realize the 'is harmful' term goes back to Tom
Christensen's famous (infamous?) article "Csh programming considered
harmful", and is more a respectful nod to that bit of internet
history rather than actually implying that it really is 'harmful'.
but, much in line with the mention of old-timers above - not a lot of
newcomers are familiar with that article.
oof. i'm losing focus. i should never reply before my second cup of coffee.
Paul Theodoropoulos
http://www.anastrophe.com
http://www.smileglobal.com
http://www.forumgarden.com
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