Re: Posting format

[Steven Cole <elenstev@mesatop.com>]

On Thu, 2003-07-24 at 10:03, Tomas Szepe wrote:
> > [Robert.L.Harris@rdlg.net]
> > 
> > On the other hand if everyone posted at the top it would be considerably
> > easier reading for those who have been following the conversation
> > without having to scroll down and figure out where comments and the
> > conversation is at.
> 
> So how do you context-quote when replying at the top?
> 
> Original text:
> 
> 	Argument A.
> 	Argument B.
> 
> Reply:
> 
> 	Reply intro text.
> 
> 	Reaction A.
> 	> Argument A.
> 
> 	Reaction B.
> 	> Argument B.
> 
> I don't think so.  Awkward (mixing directions) and confusing.
> 
> > For those new to the conversation they can just start at the bottom and
> > scroll up.
> 
> Ever actually tried doing that?  IMHO it's not half as practical and
> natural as reading from the top down.  (You have to keep scrolling,
> searching for block starts.)

I think Tomas has just hit upon why top posting is fundamentally wrong.

Indo-European languages read left to right, Semitic languages read right
to left, and some Oriental languages read top to bottom, but no human
languages I'm aware of read bottom to top.  

Consider a Cafe sign:

C
a
f
e

That is readable.  How about:

e
f
a
C

Not very readable unless you spend extra processing time to think about
it. Reading bottom to top is counter-intuitive and wastes time. Speaking
of which, apologies to all who feel they've wasted time by reading this.

Hmm, it looks like you top-posters out there are in good company. 
Marcelo seems to be taking the lead.  Grumble.

Steven