Based on my own experience communicating with Knuth, I'd say that the real situation is a bit more subtle than the article lets on. It's true that he prints me

Based on my own experience communicating with Knuth, I'd say that the real situation is a bit more subtle than the article lets on. It's true that he prints messages out, and writes hand-written notes on them, and only sends out replies (and $2.56 checks) every few months. (In my experience, it's more like 6 months than 3, btw.) But, I suspect he scans through things far more often than that. I recall once e-mailing a question about one of the pre-Fascicles, and he mentioned the question in one of his "Computer Musings" lectures held a few days later-- and the question was by no means urgent. But, since it was related to something he was currently working on (i.e., the pre-fascicle currently in production) his secretary must have slipped it to him the day I sent it.