I'm in the half-way camp here. 90% of the email I send out is in plain text.
However, I think certain elements of HTML, such as colours, bold/italic text
and tables for layout can definitely enhance the presentation of text,
making it easier, clearer and more pleasant to read.
If it was used sensibly like that, then I think the arguments about the
space and time it takes to download wouldn't be an issue for most people..
and for that matter nor would viruses. It's when scripting and images start
coming into the equation, and when people use it just for the sake of it
that I object.
As for compatibility, well I draw parallels with web browsers here. As one
of the millions of people who has spent countless wasted hours trying to get
web pages to look the same in both IE and Netscape Navigator, at least
between them and the W3C some semblence of "standards" emerge. What does
annoy me, however, is when some open source developer comes along and
half-heartedly writes a web-browser, for whatever platform, that doesn't
even support features that were established on the mainstream browsers years
ago. Then it somehow ends up on an open source O/S, and thousands of ppl end
up using it. Then you get a complaint that your web page isn't working
properly, as though it's your fault!
I look at email clients in the same way. The ability to send and handle HTML
mail has been around on mainstream clients for years, so there's really no
excuse for clients these days not to support it, even if that "support"
means that it just provides a link to have the HTML mail displayed in your
web browser.
Of course if you are communicating with the "non-GUI command-line computer
users forum" then HTML definitely wouldn't be appropriate, but the general
public are not living in the dark ages now. Technology moves on and people,
at varying paces, inevitably follow it.
Having said all that, I don't think HTML is ideal. I like MS Outlooks
approach - Rich Text. In other words offering basic colour and formatting
features, without all the stuff that really annoys people.

That's my 2 cents anyway ;)

--
Spencer Warhurst
Listserv Service Manager


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Rawson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 16 May 2002 05:23
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Random appearing banners
>
>
> On 15 May 2002 Deborah Shaw wrote:
>
> > Actually, I pay much less attention to HTML mail. I open,
> see that it's
> > HTML, close, delete. I don't have time to examine it to
> pick the message
> > out of the artwork, and I won't take the time.
>
> I'm with Deborah.  Virtually all (95%+) of the HTML email I receive is
> spam anyway.  The one exception is stuff from hotmail users
> who have rich
> text set On, and that just comes in as a normal message with a grey
> background -- makes it harder to read, but I can ignore it if
> I need to.
>
> -----
> Tom Rawson           [log in to unmask]
>