Why I don't like HTML e-mail

A rant by the webmaster.

Imagine you want to send someone a letter. You get a blank piece of paper and you type up the letter.
You fold the letter and put it in an envelope. You put a stamp on it and you mail it.
Simple - plain text e-mail.

Now imagine you have this letter and you decide to "pretty it up" by making an elaborate frame with intricate
carving, gold leaf and encrusted in semi-precious stones with bits that move when you press something.
You can't just mail it as is, so you have to make a packing crate for it.
It now weighs a ton and costs a fortune to post.
Complicated - HTML e-mail.

The person receiving this weighty package then lugs it up from the letter box, prises it open only to
find a single sheet of paper with 3 or 4 paragraphs on it ! (Can we say pissed off?)

Now imagine that when the recipient tries to open the crate, he finds he needs a special tool which can
only be found at one place in the city 30 Km away. (Can we say really pissed off?)
Microsoft HTML e-mail

Now imagine if everybody sent simple mail in this complicated and totally useless fashion.
How clogged up and slow would the post office become? (Can we say network congestion?)

So, the next time you sit in front of your computer complaining about how slow the internet is,
think about who may be causing this network congestion. It may be you !

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