Certainly email lists as a discussion medium were always doomed. ;-) I remember taking part in the first mailing list (1973?) on the ARPAnet, which was, approp

Certainly email lists as a discussion medium were always doomed. ;-) I remember taking part in the first mailing list (1973?) on the ARPAnet, which was, appropriately enough, about mailing lists, hosted by BBN. Flame wars sprung up day and night, even with only a few dozen people. Email is just a reflection of the humans that use it, so, sure it's a disaster, but still quite useful.