Re: [epub] Email: HTML vs. Text?...

[Brian Alt <brian.alt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Gina,

At 10:49 AM 7/24/00 -0400, you wrote:
>I use Eudora Pro for my email, have been for years; and I can tell you I
>automatically DELETE any email that comes in that in html.  WITHOUT 
>reading it.

That's fine. Which is why any email publisher who might want
you as part of his or her audience would offer you the option
of text.

>Eudora is fully capable of handling html mail.  It just pisses me off that
>much that people send it.  It slows download of my mail considerably.....
>but there's one thing about html mail that nobody here has addressed that
>concerns me.  Email worm viruses.  I have been infected by them three times
>by html emails.  My boyfriend is a computer hardware genius who has been
>building systems for six years now, at least -- and both of my brothers
>have college degrees in programming.
>
>ALL four of us agree that html email is scary news.

All technologies (especially new ones) can be used maliciously.
The question, however, seems to be one of trust, not technology.
If you trust the source sending you HTML email, whether it's a
large corporation or a do-it-yourself publisher, the problem of
receiving viruses in HTML email goes away.

If, on the other hand, you don't trust a publisher, it doesn't
really matter if his or her publication is HTML or text.
Without trust, the relationship is pointless. A publisher could
send you the greatest content in the world... or viruses. It
wouldn't matter.

Disabling a technology because it has the potential for abuse
is not a good idea. We might as well get rid of these PCs then,
right? :) I'm not going to boycott either.

>I am one of a *growing* number of email readers who have
>learned not to even OPEN html email.

I've had a fair share of viruses, trojans, and other sorts of
nasties. Mostly I've learned to not open email or attachments
from an unrecognized source.

Tell me this: How is HTML in email any more dangerous than HTML
on the Web?

>I am sure none of you who are discussing sending out your ezines in html
>format would ever be involved in sending out viruses, however those readers
>who have been burned will be forever scarred by the event and will
>definitely NOT want to read your ezine in html format.

You're generalizing here based on how you reacted to the experience.
Again, I've had my fair share of burning, but I still read and
appreciate HTML email newsletters from trusted sources, such as
ClickZ, internet.com, DirtSmart.com, and others.

>Bottom line.... you will probably never piss anyone off with a text
>email.  You might with html.  If you feel lucky today, take that risk!

What about the risk of not offering a rich text version of your
publication, when your competition might be offering the more
interactive experience that HTML makes possible? ;-)

Enjoying the discussion,

Brian Alt
http://Ezine-Tips.com/




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