On 16/06/2015, at 20:19, Jonathan Bishop wrote:
> Ken,
>
> I disagree.
>
> As someone who uses nested email options on Gmail and Outlook it causes
> great problems if the email has the same title yet different forked
> conversations.
>
--- hold that thought ---
> Email has changed since the PHD-DESIGN group was formed, and so the way the
> group is conducted should also change.
>
--- actually, email is basically the same as it was 40 years ago... Just look at the RFCs and etc. That's email's greatest strength and also its greatest weakness, but that's another subject (see what I did here? Introduced another subject, but will leave it for later).
What has changed is the email clients, and these provide the extra functionality we are talking about. And "threading" is a feature of email clients, not of email per se. And threading is what both you and Ken are talking about.
> On one post recently Don and others took the thread in one direction, and I
> and others took it in a different direction.
>
> Forking of posts is normal these days, and is not considered the same as
> going off topic.
--- remember that thought you were holding? Well, what's it gonna be: does "different forked conversations" cause "great problems" or "is normal these days"?
IMHO as a designer, software developer, and user, by a matter of principle (and neatness) things should be called their proper names and placed in their proper compartments (if the things "afford" such compartmentalization... but that's yet another subject).
So, if there is such a thing as a "subject" to an email, and if different messages relate to different subjects, then why the heck should they be placed on the same thread?
If I want to follow a discussion about, say, panties, why should I care about a discussion about neckties?
If you place them in the same drawer, that's your prerogative.
Not imposing it on others is being nice to other people.
PS: If the people on this list can expertly manage parenthetical statements, footnotes, endnotes, epilogues, et cetera, why not try to wrangle some measly emails? And if not, that's no big deal either. But the care you put in your messages also relates to the respect you have towards your interlocutors.
Best regards,
==================================
Carlos Pires
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Design & New Media MFA // Communication Design PhD Student @ FBA-UL
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