Message-ID: <39693132.1EC11ED7@acm.org>
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 17:13:06 -0400
From: Dave Tweed <dtweed AT acm DOT org>
Organization: almost none
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To: opendos AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: quoting and listening
References: <200007092132 DOT e69LWd525549 AT eos DOT arc DOT nasa DOT gov>
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Reply-To: opendos AT delorie DOT com

Jim Stevenson wrote:

[snip]

> I am not against all quoting, but it is often much too long or
> mostly superfluous.

I agree. The most popular mail readers on PCs tend to automatically
quote an entire message when replying, unless you configure it
otherwise. Most people don't take the trouble to trim the quoting
to just the required amount.

> This is not a personal attack, but a constructive suggestion toward
> making the list easier reading and more helpful to all.

I have to disagree here. It has long been the tradition to put new
comments *after* properly-trimmed quoted material. A sighted person
such as myself sees > at the left edge of the screen and immediately
scrolls down to see the new stuff, and all too often, there's nothing
there.

> Thanks much for your consideration.

I'm all for the consideration of handicapped people, but you're asking
the majority of the community to cater to the needs of the minority,
when the problem could easily and should be addressed at your end,
with some simple changes to your reader software, or by creating a
filter between your mail reader and your speech software. That's the
magic of computers: they're *programmable*.

-- Dave Tweed