Why this phobia to HTML mail?

[David Gaskill]

On Mon, 18 Sep 2000 16:10:20 +0100 (BST), Simon Bowring wrote:

>>but I suspect that the de facto standard is rapidly becoming Outlook 
>Express. 
>
>But a moving target with no (published) definition is not a
>"standard" at all, and thus cannot possibly serve as such for
>people who want to write email s/w!
>
>What's so hard to understand about this?

I merely observed that the Outlook Express is becoming the de facto 
standard for the majority of e-mail traffic. I didn't suggest that this was 
good or bad and didn't comment on its effect on others trying to write e-
mail software. I simply reported my observation 
>
>To use a metaphor (or something!?) from the legal system.

I doubt whether this is a relevant parallel. There is no legislature handing 
down laws or any executive to enforce them. You may wish there was but 
there isn't. 

English is the most widely spoken language in the world not because a 
group of academics codified and promulgated it but because us Brits 
grabbed large parts of the globe around 100 years ago and without the 
permission of the inhabitants imposed our language on them. 

I suppose the modern parallel is Microsoft and Windows ..

David