At 9:11 PM -0500 3/6/03, David F. Skoll wrote:
Ah. This is solved by having different classes of addresses.
You then describe an incredibly complex scheme whereby I am unable to
send anyone email unless I have with me a piece of software which
knows where I am, how I am currently able to communicate with
everyone, and which address is appropriate to use under the current
circumstances. It requires that I upgrade every single MUA in the
world that I might possibly use, whether it be my PDA, my computer at
home, my computer at work, the kiosk in a shopping mall or the phone
on the airplane. It makes it virtually impossible to even manage
addresses on *paper*, let alone in my head.
tries to email you from a Yahoo account, it will bounce. Well, too bad.
Explain that last sentence to the guy in customer support at your
company who has to deal with the complaints.
"rose(_at_)artandframingsolutions(_dot_)com", period. She can keep that address
in her address book, and it will work just fine.
And when she's at my house sending email from the Audrey in my kitchen?
Time-locked addresses are what you post in newsgroups. They accept mail
from anyone, but only for a very limited time.
Which negates one of the great things about newsgroups--they are
archived. Last month I got email from someone asking about a piece
of software I wrote ten years ago.
Locked-addresses require no MUA changes. All of the magic can be
implemented on the server.
Let's see. They destroy my ability to filter incoming email based on
the address (mail to webmaster(_at_)xxx goes here, mail to postmaster at
xxx goes there). They destroy my ability to reply to email on a
laptop from different locations. And (here's a fun one), when I move
to a new company, I can no longer reply to any of the messages in my
inbox!
Please keep in mind, when making proposals, that the average user has
absolutely no idea how the email system works. It's magic. They
don't understand even something as simple as what a bounce means (let
alone how to read it). If you work very hard you can try and make
analogies with the post office and they will begin to get it. When
you start talking about transient addresses and throw-away identities
you might as well be talking in Martian.
--
Kee Hinckley
http://www.puremessaging.com/ Junk-Free Email Filtering
http://commons.somewhere.com/buzz/ Writings on Technology and Society
I'm not sure which upsets me more: that people are so unwilling to accept
responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate
everyone else's.
_______________________________________________
Asrg mailing list
Asrg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/asrg