Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dartvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!harpo!decvax!dartvax!chuck
From: chuck@dartvax.UUCP (Chuck Simmons)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.news.notes
Subject: Re: Information Overload and What We Can Do About It
Message-ID: <3610@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 23-Sep-85 00:48:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.3610
Posted: Mon Sep 23 00:48:42 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Sep-85 03:38:25 EDT
References: <10381@ucbvax.ARPA> <3274@nsc.UUCP> <698@tpvax.fluke.UUCP>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 29
Xref: watmath net.news:3967 net.news.notes:17

> > The other things I've found about the user interface is that there is no
> > reason why news and mail ought to have separate programs/interfaces.
> > Whether the message is news or mail should be part of the
> > filtering/priotizing setup, but is irrelevant to 99.44% of the user
> > interface. A new filtering bit would be whether it is public or private
> > based, but whatever interface deals with news should deal with email as
> > well.
> 
> YES, YES, YES!! Not only should mail and news be part of the same interface,
> but it would be nice if it also fired up a background process to get the
> editor of choice fired up and ready. As things are here, it's a pain to
> always wait for 2 minutes for the editor to load for each reply, followup or
> new posting.

My state of mind when I am reading mail is quite different from my state
of mind when I am browsing through newsgroups.  When I am working with mail,
I generally intend to reply to each individual message immediately.  When
I am browsing through newsgroups, I generally intend to ignore most of the
articles.

Perhaps an analogy can be made with paper mail.  I sort my paper mail into
three piles -- junk mail, mail from friends that I intend to read right
away and answer quickly, and magazines that I intend to put aside for leisure
reading.  While it is no doubt reasonable for mail and news to have similar
interfaces, I think it is also quite reasonable for the computer to know
whether I am interested in reading and replying to my mail, or interested in
browsing through the news.

-- Chuck


Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com