Re: [SLUG] threads trend (top vs. bottom replies.)

From: steve szmidt (steve@szmidt.org)
Date: Sun Aug 14 2005 - 09:44:55 EDT


On Saturday 13 August 2005 18:35, patrick grantham wrote:
> Threads on top when replying vs. threads on bottom. Lord have mercy, I
> hope a standard comes out. The war between replying on the top vs. bottom
> is giving a headache. Both have merit, I just wish one would win.

Well there is a standard. In the beginning... hehe, well it's true. In the
beginning replies were actually done at the bottom of the post. Emails were
easy to read.

BTW, email programs are the ones that were set to automatically add the reply
to the top or bottom. Intersecting replies were also made after each
paragraph or statement when several issues were being discussed, but that was
done manually.

Microsoft were very late to "get" the Internet. When they did they tried to
change the way everyone worked it. [Which is also standard for them. Adopt a
standard and change it.] Anyway they had tried a couple of things to modify
the way the Internet worked in an attempt to "take over". To make it a MS
network basically. Fortunately they failed on all but adding great confusion
with top posting.

One of the things they did is to have their email programs automatically start
replies at the top, rather than bottom. You know how prevalent windows became
and with all these new users who did not know squat about how things were
done. So they were automatically moved onto the MS way of top posting.

Unfortunately/fortunately I don't expect that one will "win" as some people
will never stop doing it their way. With companies like MS who only leave
their own standards alone, I for one don't ever expect that to ever occur.

-- 

Steve Szmidt

"They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.



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