Vernon Schryver wrote:
The overwhelmingly vast majority of the use of HTML is
at best a waste of bandwidth and CPU cycles.
This is, at best, a representation of a personal, subjective
opinion. The reality is that there is great demand for "rich text"
messaging and there always has been. There are many clear indicators
that large numbers of people like to both send and receive HTML
formatted messages. This demand is not new.
As far back as 1981, when I first started selling one of the
first "corporate" email systems, Digital's ALL-IN-1 office, customers
were asking for and often demanding "rich text" or "high quality" email
messaging capabilities. If anything, the demand for such a capability
has increased over time.
It is no more reasonable to demand that the world accept that
email should not contain rendering information than it would be for some
religious sect to demand that we not "pollute" the walls of our homes
with art. Our challenge should be to figure out how to give the users
what they want without exposing them to unnecessary risks. If the
problem is a difficult one to solve, it isn't because what the users
want is some that is not "legitimage," rather, it simply means that
we're not being creative enough in defining solutions.
There is far more use of HTML mail to violate privacy
with such as "web bugs" than legitimate use.
I don't believe this to be true. I get loads of "legitimate"
HTML mail every day. In any case, it doesn't matter. The issue is how to
design a system that works, not how to restrict legitimate users from
accomplishing their goals or seeing "pretty" email messages.
bob wyman
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