[thelist] Newsletter as HTML Email

Barney Carroll barney at textmatters.com
Wed Jan 31 11:54:46 CST 2007


Hassan Schroeder wrote:
> Now: client sends nicely formatted HTML email (with text/plain version)
> to /wildly non-technical/ customers; all they have to do is open their mail
> and read it.
> 
> You're suggesting this simple, user-friendly process be replaced by
> exactly what?

You're implying legacy users, aren't you?

Actually, to get a newsletter you have to go to a form, type in your 
email address, hit a button, wait for a verification message, and follow 
a link to confirm. Then you have to open up your email client, open the 
email and cross your fingers as it uses its own proprietary parsing on 
the HTML to eventually produce the goods.

However on any modern system (inherent disadvantage to some, I know), 
you will simply click the orange RSS icon, possibly OK it, and then have 
updates alerted with a title and description (and a pic or two, etc.) 
through your browser or a passive widget in your OS. When you follow the 
link, you get to read HTML in a browser built for it, with all the 
advantages you might want. You could have a flash-video blog or whatever.

It's simpler, and the possibilities are so much broader. Crucially 
though, no more unpredictable messy HTML.

Regards,
Barney



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