Vernon Schryver wrote:
What good is HTML based email if it cannot run
scripts or even contain links to other HTML content?
Well, there's basic formatting:
* Simple font variations (italics, bold, color, font) are an easy way to add
a bit of expressiveness to your text.
o Everybody says that the problem with email is that it's not expressive
enough.
o To compensate, we've got an elaborate set of conventions for imitating
what you can do in print and face-to-face (smileys, *asterisks* for
emphasis, etc.).
o But new users don't know these conventions.
o HTML offers the ability to do the same thing more comprehensibly.
Actual smiley faces, italics for emphasis (just like people are used
to seeing in print), headings.
* And, of course, lists and tables are amazingly useful.
And even simple links (never mind forms, applets, etc.) are great for, say,
workflow applications. When I worked for Netscape, HR made great use of HTML
mail in the internal network. When I wanted to take some vacation
time, I filled out a form on the HR site; they would send mail to my manager,
with one link to approve and one to deny. Much easier than paper-based systems,
or even non-email-based online systems (since the vacation request comes into
the inbox you already check, instead of making you go someplace else).
--
/===============================================================\
|John Stracke | http://www.ecal.com |My opinions are my own. |
|Chief Scientist |==============================================|
|eCal Corp. |Whose cruel idea was it for the word "lisp" to|
|francis(_at_)ecal(_dot_)com|have an "S" in it? |
\===============================================================/