Conserving mental bandwidth, was: ~~~Flame - read until properly toasted...

[Edward Wigg]

At 06:52 PM 8/1/96 -0700, Steve Westman
<swestman at sherlock.sherlock.utsa.edu> wrote:
>...
>That said, I have to admit that I do find the (at times seemingly endless)
>picking up (and apart) of threads to be an extremely annoying waste of
>bandwidth.... 

I think we can all sympathize with not wanting to waste time reading scads
of e-mail that does not interest us; most of us have more things to do than
time to do them in.  However, what annoys some is the most interesting part
for others. 

There are three obvious solutions:

1) Split the list into subgroups -- this would lead to duplication,
confusion and some _very_ low traffic groups; in general not a good solution.

2) Make it a moderated list. Great if the moderator has the time, interest,
inclination and will, but then you greatly reduce the freedom of the mailing
list.

3) Unsubscribe from the list and just scan the archives for interesting
threads/posts/authors. (A similar method would be to read the group as News
if there is a gateway, I couldn't find one when I looked, but that might
just reflect on the News server I use.)

Number 3 is the obvious solution for those who wish to reduce their exposure
to hot air, however they define it, while keeping an eye on things that
interest them. It is just as easy, if not easier, than dealing with the
mail, and all it requires is a Web browser, probably a given for 99.9% of
readers of Web4Lib. I don't think that Web4Lib is one of the lists that
restricts posts to subscribers (though I could be wrong about that) so you
should even be able to get your word in if you choose to add to the wasted
bandwidth.

Most of what most people say most of the time on most topics is mostly
rubbish to most other people (this post included), so stop feeling you have
to read everything and just look at what interests _you_ in an efficient,
low bandwidth manner. Then we can all be happy!

Edward
  

--------------------------------------------------------------
Edward Wigg                      "Just another guy, you know?"
Evanston Public Library             e-wigg at evanston.lib.il.us
Evanston, Illinois