tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 30 10:28:08 1997

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Re: Virtual Postal Course



>Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 00:35:52 -0700 (PDT)
>From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
>
>[email protected] on behalf of Kenneth Traft wrote:
>
>> I will agree that EMAIL is easier to communicate, and that when 
>communicating 
>> people get a little sloppy, but I find it "distasteful" to be told that 
>> because I'm doing something "on-line", I'm not going to think about it.  If 
>> this is the case, the entire reason for this EMAIL list fits your non-
>> thinking 
>> senerio, so it too should be dropped and "put to paper" and mailed.
>
>While Qov's statement was a gross overgeneralization, there is a measure of 
>truth to it.  E-mail is very quick and easy for some people, while postal mail 
>seems more "formal."

True enough so far as it goes, but Ken really makes a good case.  It is
nothing short of insulting to tell me "Well, *I* know you won't think if
you send email, so you'll learn the way I say."  It's certainly a
consideration to bear in mind, but makes a lousy reason.

>This, I think, points to the most important reason that the postal course has 
>not yet made it online.  The Internet has so many casual users, who jump into 
>something and then decide it's not for them.  This would happen with an e-mail 
>postal course.  David Barron tells us that the number of people who complete 
>the second lesson of the existing course is a lot less than the number who 
>complete the first, and this gap would only be magnified with an e-mail 
>course.  Furthermore, e-mail is very, very easy for many people these days.  
>Simply put: David doesn't have the time to handle the virtual tons of e-mail 
>he'd get if he did this on his own.  Let alone trying to keep track of 
>everything!

This, however, is a good reason.  Let's face it, at this point David is the
only one doing the correcting, and restricting it to paper mail happens to
be what's easier for him (who's going to gainsay him?) and also manages to
keep the traffic down simply *by virtue* of being less convenient for the
user.  The inconvenience is a tool he can use to limit the traffic flow.
So is turning people away.  Using the first tool helps to lessen the need
for the second.

~mark


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