Just for you, this once, I am going to intermingle my reply.
Andrew said:
So it saves _you_ time and that's all that matters. To hell with
everyone else. It wastes everyone's else time because a lengthy
post like this has no context visible on screen. I for one had no
idea what you were referring to until I scrolled down to have a
look and _then_ back up again to reread your comments. But that
doesn't matter because your time is all that matters.
Yes, it saves ME time, and I am the person who donates my time to
answering questions people request I answer. In other words, I am a
resource on the newsgroups I usually post to, and I need to conserve
that resource to make the best use of it for the largest number of
people. I normally do not cross post, but this tread sort of started out
that way, so you may not know how much time I spend on several
newsgroups and list answering questions for others. If you Google my
name (Well I'm not sure you use Google since it is one of those
newfangled things), I have about 33,000 hits (and there is only one
person in the world with my full name, so they are all me), and almost
all of them are postings, and almost all those postings are providing
people information they have asked for, or providing information
valuable to those newsgroups.
However, I also hear from many people who much prefer top posting
because it saves THEM time, since they can find the most current
information right at the top without having to scroll all the way down
to see the information they've already read. Most people who follow
newsgroups tend to read them regularly and can recall the context of the
thread long enough not to have to go back to the earlier information anyway.
I wish top-posting advocates would shut up and learn the basics of
netiquette. It has evolved over decades and most rules are there
for a reason. By deliberately ignoring them you aren't helping
anyone since your posts are not in the standard form expected by
most readers.
So has the gasoline car engine, and it still sucks, which is why people
are craving alternatives that both work better and are less polluting.
I suppose everyone who thinks differently than you, or the "standard" or
"old way" should shut up. Then we'd never have any change or innovation.
Let me ask you something, do you go to the library to look up most of
your research information or do you use that newfangled silly Googley
stuff on the internet? Things change, and sometimes they change for the
better. I may actually have been on line longer than you have, I don't
know, I was on line well before the web or the internet. I explained to
you why bottom posting became a standard, and why it no longer has its
place in these types of discussion groups. Unfortunately, we are in the
midst of this transition before everyone decides to switch to top
posting, and that creates a certain amount of chaos. But much more to
the point, the CONTENT of the information is a heck of a lot more
important that the format. Form over function is often a poor value
choice.
If you continually ignore established rules of etiquette whether
on or off line people are entitled to regard your behaviour as
inappropriate and/or insulting. This is without even considering
the very purpose of quoting previous posts: if it is not providing
context then there is no point in quoting at all.
I don't spit of the sidewalk or nor clear my nasal passages while in
public, and I'd hardly consider top posting inconsiderate, abusive,
inappropriate or insulting or disrespectful. I don't even smoke. It
doesn't hurt to learn a bit more tolerance and acceptance.
The context of the discussion is there for those who require it; it is
just underneath the new and more topical information. Net police sound
like people who were scandalized by the first women who showed their
ankles in public. I "put up" with bottom and integrated/intermingled
posters without a whimper. I just adjust to it, even though, in
general, it is time wasting for me. Rather than whining about what you
think is a better protocol, you can try a few things:
1) decide you won't read top posted message and delete them when you see
them
2) Filter out top posting individuals
3) answer so many questions, that your bottom posting becomes as common
as borscht, and posters like me become a tiny minority
4) Start a bottom posting only newsgroup which discusses why bottom
posting is so superior.
5) Recognize that people have a basic right to post as they wish, as
long as the content has value, and pay more attention to the content and
less to the format.
And now, I am going back to the groups I usually hang with, who know the
value of my input such that most of them don't care when I put my
replies, so I won't continue to post in whichever sacred newsgroup you
are hanging in which finds top posting so deplorable.
Bets wishes.
Art
