Re: HTML in e-mails (was Consulting <Tangent>)

[Frank Miedreich <miedreich@acm.org>]

******    message to minivend-users from Frank Miedreich <miedreich@acm.org>     ******


Since I have often complained about HTML formatted email, I'll add my $0.02:


>******    message to minivend-users from Barry Treahy <treahy@mmaz.com>
>******
>
>I will not argue with you that *nix ownes the net (thank God), but you
>have little
>argument or you'll loose, that Microslouth owns the desktop.
>
><FLAME>
>Regarding HTML content in messages, this is NOT a MS issue since Netscape
>>products produce this too.

I agree here, although in my experience it is more common to receive HTML
formatted email from Outlook users than from any other mail program.

>I find it ironic though, that people bitch, whine, and cry
>about HTML in e-mail, yet these are typically the same people that are working
>with the web.  Sure, I like command line syntax, but lets face it, pine or any
>other mailer cannot hold a candle to the functionality of a GUI Netscape
>Communicator E-mail, Eudora, or heaven-forbid Outlook client.  This is
>1999 and
>whether you use Linux, Solaris, SCO, DEC Unix, HPUX, AIX, etc., isn't it
>time to
>start using a mailer that the majority of the rest of the world is using?
>

I find it questionable to give up an established standard unless there is a
really compelling reason to do so. And I fail to see the advantage of HTML
in email in addition to a few disadvantages:

- HTML format approx. doubles the size of the document
- Typical HTML content is not backwards compatible to plain
  text after you filter out the HTML
- Almost all the HTML tags used are FONT to set size and
  color and div for paragraph breaks, in addition there
  is a lot of formatting with &nbsp;
- HTML formatting in email can be abused by spammers quite easily,
  I have quite a few examples of refresh headers, invisible access
  to web-sites and so on.
- I have never had an email reader crash because of the content of the
  message. This is certainly not true for Outlook, Netscape or IE.

So all we usually get is a replacement of a linebreak (one char) by two
tags (11 chars), a change in the font size, and a change in the font color.
All email users have their font size set to something they prefer anyway,
so why override this setting? The font color is almost always set to black
anyway, yet you get this again and again, after each DIV tag. You introduce
a potential security risk, especially considering all the security holes
reported for Netscape and IE.

>If you insist on using an ASCII text only reader, that is your choice but you
>should shut-up because that is no different that a lynx person crying
>about the
>fact that he cannot browse or transact commerce sites on the Internet any
>longer...  That is why were are on this list right?  Commerce?  I would
>bet that
>there is not a single person here that is constructing a website with
>concern to
>Lynx compatibility.  We're probably more concerned about the headaches
>associated
>with IE 5!

If somebody insists on using an ASCII text only reader, he may have good
reasons to do so. When reading email on the road you may not have access to
your usual connection speed, so the size of a message still matters. When
nothing is gained with a 100% increase in message size, this becomes simply
annoying.
Also you state that our goal is Commerce on the web. For that reason most
commercial sites do not yet use DHTML or other new technologies of 1999,
and we design our sites so people without IE 5 can still access it. We also
use java only if really necessary, as the startup of the java VM still
inconveniences many users. HTML in email is inconvenient for many users and
may prevent you from getting your message across. As long as you don't want
that for your web content, why do you want to accept that for your email?

It would be no problem to produce HTML formatted email and be compatible to
ASCII. There is the MIME alt content possibility, and the option to use
HTML code that would produce similar output after the HTML is stripped.
As long as I get a line like:
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
to introduce an empty line into a message I do not consider the technology
of HTML formatted email ready for 1999. Once Netscape and Microsoft fix
their email clients so the formatting is useful and a standard of security
is implemented, I suggest we stick to ASCII.

></FLAME>
>
>Barry
>

Greetings, Frank


--
Frank Miedreich
Max-Planck-Institut fuer psychologische Forschung


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