Re: FN-FORUM: Ok this one should go on for a bit....Top Posting Vs Bottom Posting

date posted 8th February 2007 15:57

Adam Reynolds wrote:
>
> This the first email group where I've seen bottom posting.

not been around much then?

> I understand with Usenet it is critical, however with email, hitting 'N'
> to read the next email in the thread, then having to scroll to the
> bottom of an email to actually get to the bit you want to read is a pain.

as is scrolling down to find out what the comment refers to and then
scrolling back up to read the reply.

> I understand where bottom posting comes from and the reasons for this
> within Usenet, however I don't understand why people are applying it to
> email threads.

Because it makes responding to multiple questions easier.

> Isn't it a bit archaic, and in the case of email threads, user
> unfriendly? It feels like people are clinging to the past with this
> behaviour. The "this is the way my father's father did it and that's the
> way I will do it".

no.

>
> Of course I could be wrong and your email client always opens the email
> at the bottom of a message and you have to scroll up to the top. Also I
> do know that most email clients allow you to switch from the default
> 'reply at the top' to 'reply at the bottom', but you have to hunt this
> option out.

no, I see the mail and read from top to bottom, so if I see your answer
at the top I have to scroll down to read the question and then back up...

not all of us have perfect recall...

>
> Adam
> PS: And yes I know Microsoft started the ol' reply at top and this has
> became the default for most email clients.

most? nay only one, and that's fixable with OE quoteFix
(http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/)

but the nicest reason for "bottom posting" is that it usually means that
you have trimmed off anything you're not replying to before making your
reply.

and I know bandwidth and disk storage isn't the issue it once was, but
you try reading the digest for this or any other mailing list where
people commonly forget to trim their posts!

I will always, quote first for context then reply as I believe it is the
politest from of communication.

YMMV.