3 ms·

I may be taking an "old school" approach to this, but I top post. That top post is an actual coherent written document that answers the questions with enough co

by mentat 16y ago

I may be taking an "old school" approach to this, but I top post. That top post is an actual coherent written document that answers the questions with enough context to make it clear that it's answering questions. If you treat email like chat, then yes, top posting is dumb. However, email can also be an extension of the "letter writing" style of interaction where you don't just answer with one word. I'm not sure that I think it's a good idea for email to evolve into "slow chat".

alextingle 16y ago
You are not old school. In fact top-posting is sign that you are a relative newbie. Long ago there was USENET, and everyone knew how to properly format their posts, and by extension, e-mails. Windows didn't even have a network stack, back then.
- metageek 16y ago
  >Windows didn't even have a network stack, back then. And then Windows got N+1 network stacks, with incompatibilities. I had escaped by that point, but I heard the tales of woe.
- mentat 16y ago
  You might want to check your assumptions and read my post. The subject of my entire post was what literary form was appropriate to what medium. I've been using BBSes and the subsequent networks since 300 baud modems. Perhaps I was influenced by a more literate line of programmers and writers but calling me a newbie is ridiculous.
rprasad 16y ago
Interleaving is for people who can't write a coherent, self-sufficient response that answers the questions set forth in earlier messages. I don't want to have to re-read the question every time I get an email; I already know what I asked. I want to know the answer. The only time interleaving is better is when the answer is short and context-generic, i.e., a "yes" or "no".
- jonhendry 16y ago
  Interleaving is for people responding point-by-point to a two-thousand-word essay posted to Usenet. If you top-post you're going to have to write more to provide the relevant context to each of your own points. Might as well just interleave your responses, retain the original statements for context, and trim the stuff you're ignoring.
  - mentat 16y ago
    Email is not the same as Usenet posting. Perhaps that's where some are diverging in this debate. Email evolved and is, as far as I understand it and usually use it, an electronic form of letter writing. If we want to talk about how you forum post (to use the modern model) then the discussion is different.

by mentat 16y ago

alextingle 16y ago

You are not old school. In fact top-posting is sign that you are a relative newbie. Long ago there was USENET, and everyone knew how to properly format their posts, and by extension, e-mails. Windows didn't even have a network stack, back then.

metageek 16y ago
>Windows didn't even have a network stack, back then. And then Windows got N+1 network stacks, with incompatibilities. I had escaped by that point, but I heard the tales of woe.
mentat 16y ago
You might want to check your assumptions and read my post. The subject of my entire post was what literary form was appropriate to what medium. I've been using BBSes and the subsequent networks since 300 baud modems. Perhaps I was influenced by a more literate line of programmers and writers but calling me a newbie is ridiculous.

rprasad 16y ago

Interleaving is for people who can't write a coherent, self-sufficient response that answers the questions set forth in earlier messages. I don't want to have to re-read the question every time I get an email; I already know what I asked. I want to know the answer. The only time interleaving is better is when the answer is short and context-generic, i.e., a "yes" or "no".

jonhendry 16y ago
Interleaving is for people responding point-by-point to a two-thousand-word essay posted to Usenet. If you top-post you're going to have to write more to provide the relevant context to each of your own points. Might as well just interleave your responses, retain the original statements for context, and trim the stuff you're ignoring.
- mentat 16y ago
  Email is not the same as Usenet posting. Perhaps that's where some are diverging in this debate. Email evolved and is, as far as I understand it and usually use it, an electronic form of letter writing. If we want to talk about how you forum post (to use the modern model) then the discussion is different.