My two cents...
News group, web board or mailing list, you still have to write, upload and download
messages in
some fashion. If it's for a popular topic there will be lots of traffic, no matter
how that
traffic is handled. For a number of reasons, I personally prefer mailing lists to any
of the
alternatives.
Participants have to supply a working e-mail address to receive messages from a list
server. That
inspires a bit more restraint than you see in news groups. Except for moderated
groups, any idiot
can spam a news group as much as they like with whatever they like. If it's a
moderated group it
may see less off-topic traffic than a mailing list, but it may also see less
tolerance, less truly
open discussion.
E-mail access is easier to come by than news group or web access. There are still
plenty of areas
around the globe in which web access is costly but e-mail access is free thanks to
things like
hobbyist network gateways.
E-mail is just plain easier to access then web sites or news groups. There are more
devices with
which you can accept e-mail than there are devices from which you browse news groups
or the web.
Plenty of companies allow their employees unfettered access to e-mail, especially work
related
e-mail, but it's a very common to restrict or prohibit web and news group access in
the workplace.
For flexibility in automation and content filtering, e-mail wins hands down. How many
news or web
servers allow users to influence filtering at the server? Compare your POP3 and IMAP
options to
your NNTP and HTTP options. E-mail requires less interaction with the client
software. Compare
the number of steps required to find and view all messages from a user named 'Joseph'
with a
subject containing the string 'virtual' with an e-mail client to the number of steps
required to
do the same with a web browser and a web board.
Visually and mobility impaired individuals typically have a much easier time with
e-mail than with
news group or web use.
And if I wasn't dead tired I'm sure I could think of a few more...
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