Re: Left Margins for e:mail messages

["Arlen P. Walker" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM>]

> We use margins on the printed page, why not on the electronic
> page?

Because on the printed page you have control over *both* margins. In Email, you
don't. I've given up trying to guess where to set my right margin (partly
because my email reader has a fixed default for it, and I'd have to remember to
reset it for every single message I type, and partly because it's set in
"inches" rather than characters and I'm too lazy to do the math) and I've seen
quotes from my posts coming back with terrible wrapping problems.

It's just not useful to control the left margin when you have no control (or
even influence) over the right.

      If somebody wants to print out their mail messages, let them add
      their *own* margins!

I'll go along with that. You want it to print out pretty? Fine, format it so it
does. But why force the people who are storing useful messages in electronic
format to waste more disc space on white space simply because your printer
doesn't have margins that you can control? (BTW, on the rare occasions I print
an EMail, mine get printed with enough of a margin for binding. It seems to be
automatically done, as my printer doesn't start at the left edge of the paper,
but rather .5"-.75" inches in from the left. It's ironic, really. I get the
margin automatically, even though I don't bind them.)

I store the useful ones electronically, and use text searches to find files
which reference specific words. If I ever get too much time on my hands, I'll
use Sonar to index them all and include synonym lists so that I can do really
elaborate searches on them.


Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 124

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
----------------------------------------------
In God we trust; all others must provide data.
----------------------------------------------