RE: Why Digest Mode? -- MIDRANGE-L

>I don't think it's a case of non-digest users being inconsiderate slobs, as
>a rule... I think we forget about digest mode, and I don't really
>understand it. If I get the gist of it, it presents these e-mails as one
>long post?!? Well, e-mail is not the best way to diseminate this kind of
>info, nor even a close second, IMHO... But digest mode sounds even worse.
>I'd always assumed people could see which are my long posts, and skip
>them... Now I'm not so sure... But I'm fairly certain that a lot of people
>who post are in the same boat as I am... I don't have time to spend
>replying, really, so I SURE don't have a lot of time to spend formatting
the
>replies. I normally make the attempt.. anyway.

For anyone who isn't sure about the uses of digest mode, I recently switched
and have been very happy with it.  For one thing, the number of e-mails
generated by this list were simnply too great for me to keep up with,
especially since I am frequently out of the office without notice.  I'd come
back from a short trip to 400-500 e-mails.  I got to the point where I was
simply deleting en-mass which still takes time.  Through the digest mode I
get the following summary at the top of every e-mail:


Today's Topics:

   1. RE: Client Access URL Hotspot and files (Andy Nolen-Parkhouse)
   2. RE: Question about MONMSG (jt)
   3. Re: AS/400 and Crystal Reports (Richard B Baird)
   4. Re: Security simpler and cheaper with iSeries (gcrane@johansonmfg.com)
   5. RE: Reply quoted (Karen.Eder@idealindustries.com)
   6. RE: Reply quoted (jt)
   7. Re: as400 maintenance contract (Chuck Morehead)
   8. RE: Reply quoted (Richard Reeve)
   9. RE: Reply quoted (jt)
  10. Re: as400 maintenance contract (prumschlag@phdinc.com)
  11. RE: WHY would I run Windows on my iSeries? (jt)
  12. RE: Reply quoted (Reeve Fritchman)


Now I can look through the list and based on topic read just the ones I
want.  Frequently I don't read any of them, which is the whole point.  I
only follow about half the threads, and like others I rarely feel like I
have anything of value to add so I don't post too often.  The last time I
did (in one of the more humorous threads) I got an off-line e-mail from an
unnamed person chastising me because "he didn't have the time to read this
kind of garbage" (paraphrased), so I have chosen to simply lurk instead.

As far as the trimming of replys and such from e-mails, OK I wish it would
happen more often, especially when it is a reply to a reply to a reply ad
nauseum.  The digests do get uncomfortable to scroll through sometimes, but
all-in-all the benefits outweigh the inconveniences.  Because of the volume
of traffic you get a bunch of digests a day, so it isn't sifting through the
entire days contents at once.  The only technical thing that would make it
better would be to have some kind of embedded links to jump from the topic
list to the actual message.

Joel