Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!think!barmar From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc Subject: Re: configurable delimiters needed in aliases file for x.400 addresses Message-ID: <40888@think.Think.COM> Date: 21 Jul 90 18:00:44 GMT References: <40713@think.Think.COM> Sender: news@Think.COM Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA Lines: 20 In article peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >In article <40713@think.Think.COM> barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) writes: >> The days are long gone when we should expect ordinary users to type >> "addresses" into their mail system user interfaces. >I really don't see why E-mail addresses need be any more complex than >phone-numbers, or street addresses at the worst. Because email addresses have to be processed by computers, and used for looking up information in a worldwide distributed database, and intended to specify a particular person and even a specific choice of the roles the person plays. On the other hand, street addresses are processed by humans. And phone numbers don't get you to a particular person, they just get you to a phone -- you still have to ask whoever answers "May I speak to so-and-so?". -- Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar