[Bell Historians] Replies

[Carl S Zimmerman]

At 10:20 +0000 2003/03/14, Mike Chester wrote:
>Anyway, my point is this, could we be a little more "contemplative"
>before hitting the send button? Where there is a thread on a topic
>it is becoming increasingly common that "a reply to a reply to a
>reply" includes all the messages from the beginning of the thread.
>Can we start using the vitual editor's blue pencil a bit more often?

While I fully agree with the importance of both contemplation and 
editing in preparation of a useful reply, I find that I don't object 
to "a reply to a reply to a reply" if such editing is done well _and_ 
it's not on a list to which I subscribe in digest mode. The reason 
is that such a multi-layered message often encapsulates the main 
points of a brief discussion better than a group of separate messages 
does. (That realization has also led me to subscribe to some 
mail-lists, including this one, in non-digest mode.) It also saves 
storage space when one is keeping a message thread for future 
reference.

On the other hand, it doesn't work well if there are parallel 
replies, creating a branched thread. But on yet another hand, it 
really helps connect an obscure comment to what prompted it--thus I 
find that I trash a lot of r-c messages without ever bothering to 
figure out to whom or to what they refer.

So, yes, edit well, and quote as appropriate.

-- 
=Carl Scott Zimmerman= Co-Webmaster: http://www.gcna.org/
Voicemail: +1-314-361-5194 (home) mailto:csz_stl at s...
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA - 19th c. home of up to 33 bell foundries