On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 2:49 AM, Tim Chown <tjc@ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:
Well indeed, top-posting is just so much more efficient given the volumes of email most of us probably see each day.
That's true... if you're adding a trivial thought to an already concise thread. If you're adding complex argument or information, or if the thread has wandered into a wide topic, a top-posted message is often incomprehensible. Without the context provided by posting inline, the reader can't immediately tell what point or points you're responding to. That's why in lists like this one we intermix new thoughts with the information they're responsive to. More, bottom-posting is just a subset of inline posting in which we're only responding to one element.
But I'm afraid times have changed; bottom-posted email is now an annoyance to most just as a slow-loading web page would be.
Then you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to trim the original down to just the context that clarifies your response. That's the other problem with top-posters... nobody trims, so if I want to understand what they're attempting to say I have to scroll down, read all the previous messages and then guess which part they're replying to. Usually the lazy top-poster hasn't said anything worth that much effort. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William D. Herrin ................ herrin@dirtside.com bill@herrin.us 3005 Crane Dr. ...................... Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/> Falls Church, VA 22042-3004