Colored Backgrounds

[David Gaskill]

On Sun, 12 Dec 1999 09:45:48 -0800, Steve Lamb wrote:

>Sunday, December 12, 1999, 8:12:55 AM, David wrote:
>> The size of your posting to the list to which I am replying is 9 K. I
>> forwarded this message to myself changing the format to HTML, changing a few
>> colours and italicising a few words - the the sort of thing I might do if I
>> was sending an e-mail in this format. The size went up to 11 K.
>
>    Obviously you don't have it set up to send both text and HTML.  

I just clicked HTML under Options. I can't find any settings associated with the 
HTML facility so I presume that PMmail just does what it does. I don't pretend to 
understand what goes on under the bonnet (hood). 

>anyone without HTML is SOL.  

Personally this doesn't worry me because I'm only used HTML when replying to an e-
mail received in that format. The vast majority of those using the Internet use a 
Microsoft operating system. 95 and later comes with a mail client that will read HTML 
and the rapidly dwindling band of those that use 3.1 can get a client that reads HTML 
for free. 

>> It would seem that if everybody using e-mail changed to HTML format traffic
>> would rise, at the out side, by 50 per cent and the amount of space used for
>> storing mail on my hard drive, (excluding attachments), would rise by a
>> similar amount.
>
>    This is based on the assumption that noone sends dual text, which isn't
>going to be the case.

PMmail apparently doesn't use dual text. What do the standard Windows mail clients 
do? 

>> I think the volume of e-mail traffic on the net is doubling approximately
>> every four months so I would suggest that the likely impact of HTML mail on
>> the operation on the Internet will hardly be perceptible.
>
>    What supports your figures.  

My ISP.

The CEO of my ISP sits on various committees of the Great and Good in the IT world 
and tells me that this is the generally accepted figure. Actually, like most statistics 
concerning the Internet, nobody really knows.  

>You think Earthlink Network is a large enough ISP to provide a nice statistical basis?

Surely, but at least in this country much of the growth is coming through new ISPs. At 
least one CD Rom from a new ISP that wants me to try his services arrives in the mail 
every week.

>> You will understand, though not I think sympathise, when I say that this is
>> his problem. The relatively small about of expenditure necessary to provide
>> the extra storage capacity that would be necessary in the unlikely event of
>> everybody switching to HTML e-mail is not going to make much of a dent in
>> his healthy profits.
>
>    *chuckle*  Do you want me to describe what ELN uses for mail?  We have two
>*full* Netapps dedicated to nothing but mail storage.  They are hammered 24/7.
>IIRC there are 3-4 machines (not PCs, mid-range Sparcs) for each incoming and
>outgoing SMTP mail and also several POP servers.  A doubling of volume would
>mean a doubling of the machines and filers.  On top of that the issue of the
>bandwidth on the local network comes into play.  I know for a fact that in
>WebOps (my department) we've had to swap from a fast FDDI ring onto 100Mbit
>Ethernet which solved the problem for a little while.  We're looking at
>gigabit ethernet not as a place to grow, but something that will be needed in
>the near future.  If mail were doubled, I have no idea what that would do to
>the mail network's bandwidth.  ;)

I can't claim to understand much of this but it sounds terribly impressive. 

>    BTW, ELN hasn't turned a profit yet so there are no "healthy profits" to
>dent.  The ISP I worked for before ELN barely (if my boss then was to be
>believed) turned a profit.  Anyway, with ELN you can look at the public
>information since it is a public company.  Symbol: ELNK.

Many of the ISP in this country have never yet turned a profit. People will throw 
money at you if you start a business with "Internet" in the name - don't need to worry 
about all this old fashioned business of turning a profit. Wondered about starting a 
business called "Internet Sausage Rolls" and spending a small proportion of the money 
subscribed on lying on the beach in Acapulco trying to figure out a connection between 
sausage rolls and the Internet ... 

>> Books are rarely sent by e-mail. Business plans, Project Proposals,
>> Discussion Documents, conventionally use the whole range of formatting tools
>> to present a readable and easily understood document.
>
>    None of which need all of those foofie things.  All of those have been
>done for decades before computers came along to make it easy.  Back then they
>were plain text as well.

"Foofie things" may not be necessary but they are certainly expected. The client wants 
'em the client gets 'em...  

>> I do a fair bit of business in Australia and have no problem with connection
>> speeds. Maybe my entry into this market has spurred the Australians to
>> install a second T-1 connection ...
>
>    Point being, bandwidth is not a limitless resource across the globe and it
>is arrogant to presume it is.

I would have thought that to all practical purposes it was limitless as long as you have 
got the dollars. Don't see any reason to be economical simply to save money for my 
ISP. After all he has only got to say "Gimme (Internet) " and he will be buried in 
dollars 
>
>> I suppose we can only assume that such companies concerned are run by a
>> bunch of morons who never look at their hit counters or care whether their 
>> Web site produces any business 
>
>    I dunno, Macromedia seems to be doing business.  ;)

Exactly my point. Maybe all Macromedia's customers are suckers but it seems a bit 
unlikely. 

>> My experience over the last few years has been that demand on the Internet
>> have risen at a truly incredible rate; not only has supply kept pace but the 
>> performance of the whole system has improved. I have every  reason to think 
>> that this will continue to be the case whether or not I send HTML e-mail ... 
>
>    My experience of working inside the internet for the past 4+ years is
>different.  Supply has not kept pace with demand, trust me.

Like you I can only speak as I find. For me the speed and reliability of Internet 
communications has never been better. 
(May be it *would* be worth the cost of the transatlantic telephone call to use my 
ISP!) 


David