Readability is actually a somewhat important point. In the case of e-mail lists, and I'm on quite a few, that readability depends greatly on the ability and tools that the individual reader has available. I read the list generally through 3 different clients, Apple Mail, Netscape Mail, and Pine. (I also occasionally look at the archives.) For me, the only problematic instance is mime encoding or html in Pine. Everything else is very clear, and readable. Though certainly there is some social engineering that could make it more readable for some groups, i tend to think that the primary problem may be technological, not social. I want to point out that if you are subscribed in digest mode that you will have a significantly different user experience with the list. This should be obvious, but most people seem to think that their user experience is univeral. The user experience is very much dependent on the list format that you choose, normal, digest, or nomail. Digest mode will always be much less readable than normal individual email. For instance, in digest mode you have have no strong breaks between messages, this hinders readability. You also have to deal with material outside of thread order, and have to deal with it in chronological order. This is not always the easiest way to read it. I think there are quite a few reasons to claim that digests are not always a good option if you are doing anything other than archiving the list. However, people persist in using them, which is their choice. I am wary when people make claims upon others based on some option that they have chose. It isn't a bad thing to make claims as to what others should do, don't get me wrong, but for me, I'd like people to first try different user experiences to see if they resolve the problem before asking others to solve it by changing their habits, though arguably quite a few email habits do need changed:) IOW, for everyone, digest mode is optional, it is not a primary format of this list software. If digest is causing some problems, I usually suggest one of two options: An individual may set their account to nomail and read the postings from the archives. They can still send mail to the list, but receive none. An individual may unset their digest option and receive mail as a normal user, and use filters to put that mail into a directory where they can read it at their leisure. This is what I do. remember list control is available to you via the webpage at: http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l if you need help with any technical problems, let me know, I'm happy to try to help.
-- jeremy hunsinger http://www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy cddc/political science http://www.cddc.vt.edu 526 major williams hall 0130 http://www.dromocracy.com virginia tech -under construction blacksburg, va 24061 540-231-7614 this email was sent from my office