From: Mark Wilden <mark@...>
Date: 2008-05-28T02:14:45+09:00
Subject: Re: Top-posting

On May 27, 2008, at 9:27 AM, Todd Benson wrote:

> Yes.  It's a group discussion.  You go to the bathroom during it, and
> someone should reiterate for you what had been said.

That's rare. Not to mention irritating. And if I'm in that situation  
and had the ability to play back what I missed without intruding on  
the conversation, I would. And I certainly wouldn't expect people to  
assume that I went to the bathroom after each sentence.

>  I'm certainly
> against verbose quoting (I try to snip as much as possible), but to
> follow the thread easier, sometimes I like to see things without
> having to scan through deleted emails or worse, jump to the archive
> site for the original post.

My mail reader has a search function. It also has the ability to sort  
deleted messages by date and subject. I can search Google Groups with  
a single keystroke. It's pretty simple, really. But the main thing is  
that I tend to remember what's been said. I guess I should appreciate  
it when people repeat the entire conversation to me each time they  
have something to add, but I don't.

> I think someone said it on this list in a humorous way a short while
> back; I forget who...
>
> "- Because it's makes sense.
> - Why should I bottom post?"

I was waiting for someone to quote that. :) It would be apt if a  
single email message was a conversation. It's not. The thread is the  
conversation.

> On a side note.  Most of my non-techie friends consistently top post
> (with the added "benefit" of enclosing at the bottom a non-related
> email I sent them weeks ago), so maybe it has a lot to do with who is
> talking and what about.

It's pretty obvious why that happens. Their mail client is set up to  
automatically quote, then puts the cursor at the top. It's not a  
conscious choice.

But I guess I should repeat this another time: I'm not in favor of top- 
posting. I think that when quotes are trimmed, it doesn't much matter,  
but I guess bottom-posting makes sense. If quotes aren't trimmed, top- 
posting is easier to read. Quotes should be trimmed. :)

///ark