Walter
Alejandro Iglesias <wai@roquesor.com>
Very annoying practices you shold avoid with
electronic mail
- Using formatted text (eg HTML.) Or the
irritating flowed format to allow plain text automatically adjust
to the window size, imitating HTML behaviour. Using plain
text is the only way to know that the message will reach the other end
with the format you (the author) chose, it's not up to the programer
of the application to make this decision. Another important
reason is these formats break quoted text. And I could
mention a hundred more.
- Doing top-posting, specially with email clients not able
to quote (eg Outlook) letting original messages accumulate at the bottom
as garbage on each response.
- Appending noisy legal notes (won't protect your message
neither at the practical nor at the legal level.)
- Relying on email as a tool to send files (instead of a
server,) abusing of attachments.
- Not reading before answering, forcing the other to explain
the same idea again and again through a twelve messages thread when the
first was enough. Or using software purposely designed to
obstruct or even break the dialog as the one pointed in the following
item.
- Using annoying ticket systems, as large companies use
today as part of their bureaucracy to discourage their clients from
asking questions or support.
- Forcing the user to suffer web forms to send messages, as
those for contact in web sites o those used by the mentioned ticket
systems. All fake privacy measures.
- Using web mail interfaces (gmail, hotmail,) limited by
design.
- Write and answer email messages from a
smartphone. As happens with any “Swiss army knife” it has
sense only under those special circumstances in which you don't have
access to a real tool. (And NO, chat tools like the currently
famous and widely used are not a replacement for email.)
GO BACK HOME