Re: A suggestion for responding to posts on s.a.a.... please put the quotes at the bottom!

Mike Simmons wrote:
> I've seen this repeated like a mantra. But doesn't this assume the reader
> hasn't read any previous posts in the thread? I find it annoying to go
> through posts in order and have to repeatedly scroll over text I've just
> read in a previous post. If I can't remember what the previous post said I
> don't mind looking below for a refresher.
>
> What you say above would make sense if the reader only read that one
> message. But that ignores that it's one message in a thread. Doesn't the
> term "thread" mean something?

It is true that newsreaders now thread, where historically, many of
them didn't. (I think that ordinary rn did not, but trn and nn do.)
As a result, the confusion engendered by consistent top-posting is
less of an issue than it used to be. But all that threading readers
really argue for is careful editing.

To the extent that readers may join in late, I think it is useful to
read the discussion from top to bottom, rather than lines p to q, then
lines n to p, then lines m to n, then lines k to m, etc.

--
Brian Tung <brian@xxxxxxx>
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt
.

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