I agree that top posting on a message like this is not very convenient,
but for simple messages ...
D'Arcy J.M. Cain wrote:
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:37:17 +0100
Stef Mientki <stef.mien...@gmail.com> wrote:
FYI, top posts are much harder to read and to reply to than if you edit
the message to which you are replying and add your new content interleaved
??? I read that before, but I can't understand it.
It is very simple. The critical part above is "...edit the
message..." If you leave a 200 line message in your reply to discuss
three lines then it won't matter whether you top post or bottom post.
You still make it difficult for others to read your posting.
I think not the way in which the result is reached, but the result
itself is important,
and i like to get to the result as fast as possible.
That's why in simple messages, I find top posting is more convenient.
Version history is often (always?) written in reversed chronological order,
you're only interested in the few last ones.
I use Thunderbird, which opens every message at the top,
so top posting is the best readable for me,
Only if the previous poster didn't trim their text. Notice how I have
removed everything here that I am not replying to. I doubt very much
if you have to scroll down to start reading my response. You can also
tell at a glance that this is not a "me too" response.
Trimming is very useful and it's done too little.
If you read mail by gmail (which I also do),
you would love that everyone top posts (as you very fast open/close
messages and see the top of the messages without scrolling)
I don't have to scroll (assuming that I know from previous readings the
content of the previous message).
But how do you know what part of the message is being replied to?
simple messages, 1 issue ?
Replying can be preset in any reader I know just as you like, bottom or top.
So I guess there must be another reason, why some (or maybe even
everyone except me) don't prefer top posting.
Ah, that makes sense.
Because it is not the usual way we read the flow of a conversation.
What is so bad about top posting?
How long did you waste on the above exchange before reversing the lines
in your head?
I do it already more than 10 years, and I mean that !!
When I write a report, almost nobody is interested in all
investigations, arguments,
most are only interested in the conclusion and is therefor always on top.
By not top-posting on simple messages,
we stick to the middle ages and prevent development of new ideas.
The bottom line is that thousands of people are reading your reply but
only one (you) is writing it. It just makes sense for you to take an
extra ten seconds to save thousands of people two seconds reading it.
It is polite and considerate to others. If everyone did the same you
would also save because you read many more posts than you write.
If it's considered polite, I will try to best next time I post to this
group.
But I'm not convinced that it saves time for anyone.
btw, it's also polite (in some cultures) to sign your messages ;-)
( I don't want to start a flame war, so this is my last response to this
thread)
cheers,
Stef Mientki
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