[ba-ohs-talk] Re: Email Requirements
John Sechrest wrote: (01)
> We basically have two different models of how things work:
>
> a) Go look at a remote resource
> b) Send the resource to me for me to look at.
>
> ...
> If you remove the assumption that email has to be able to function
> when you are not connected to the network. then you can map
> item (b) into item (a). (02)
Yes. And there, I think, lies the potential for capturing knowledge.
Joe's comment that we should we capture the rules for authoring
mail messages and store them at some easily accessible, easily
referencable location (aka "floating to the top") was right on the
money. (03)
We're talking about an intelligent blend of interactivity (b) and
referencable material (a). Where a-material is constructed out
of a b-process, and referenced or transcluded as part of
ongoing b-discussions. The concept I describe as a "human-
mediated, automated FAQ" is such a combination. (04)
> if you now assume that email is really an ordered index that is
> dynamically updated, which keeps track of my activity with it. And
> keeps all of the "mail oriented" activities managed around it,
> then I think you are correctly on the right track for a new model
> for mail. (05)
Yeah. It has grown out of the fact that I now keep a large volume
of referencable material in my email folders. When NS added
hierarchical folders, the concept really took off. So I have a
project-level meta folder for project-specific stuff, and a HowTo
meta folder for tips & tricks (shell scripts, cvs, java, and html are
just some of the subcategories). When I find a good trick, I send
myself an email and store it in those folders, so I can find it again
later. It's the perfect help system, organically evolving over time! (06)
> but... we all care about privacy, and about performance, and about
> offline utilization. so those have to be managed up front. (07)
Privacy is a major issue from day one. One of the advantages to a
list-specific email program, I think, is the capacity to use HTML-
based messages in a limited forum, where spam is not an issue. (08)
Then, when we figure out a good way to pound hell out of those
guys -- financially, legally, physically, or whatever -- the concept
can be pushed into wider use. (09)