On Thu, 13 Nov 1997, Betty Harris wrote:

> Was looking around the web tonite and came across
> this software for managing mail from e-mail lists.
> It sounds almost like a usenet client.   Download
> a list of lists, it subs you, filters your mail,
> autoaddresses your mail, and even unsubs you.
> Has anyone checked this out?  If so, what do you
> think of it?

        I haven't tried it, but from the description on the web site, it
does not seem to me to be very useful, and certainly not worth the $35
price tag.  First, you have to have not just Windows 95 or NT but also
Microsoft Outlook or Exchange.  Second, it apparently works only with
the very limited number of lists in its database.  I did a search on
"women" or "feminist" and it produced a listing of only 10 lists; moreover,
two of the ten were for what seems to be the rather local Los Gatos
Bicycle Racing Club Women's E-Mail List (in contrast, my Gender-Related
Electronic Forums listing includes well over 300 women-related lists,
and it doesn't include local lists).  I might also note that I also did
a search specifically for LSTOWN-L, and it too was not there.  (Frankly,
I wouldn't want my lists to be there.)

        Third, the software advertising makes it seem as if subscribing
and unsubscribing to an e-mail list is terribly difficult, whereas most
of the time it's relatively easy.  The difficulty most people have
comes if/when their e-mail address changes, and the software says nothing
about providing a way to deal with that (nor with confirming a subscription).

        The software does provide a filter system, but apparently only
for the limited lists it handles.

        So, if you're running Windows95 or NT and use Microsoft Outlook
or Exchange and have $35 to burn....send the $35 to me instead :-).

        As I say, I haven't actually used this software, and never even
heard of it until your message.  It sounded interesting, though, so I
took a look at the website.  I was underwhelmed.

        Joan Korenman

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*    Joan Korenman                              [log in to unmask]           *
*    University of Maryland, Baltimore County                               *
*    Baltimore, MD 21250                        http://www.umbc.edu/wmst/   *
*                                                                           *
*    The only person to have everything done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe  *
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