Tim wrote: [...]
I think a generation exposed to Mosaic and similar browsers will want to find ways to use these windows into the Net for _nearly everything_. They will not want to buy or learn separate mail programs, negotiate separate accounts, or deal with MIME sorts of issues. They will ask for, and get, "gateways" between mail and the Web. (Gateways may not be the right word.)
People don't deal with MIME. Computers do. The average user shouldn't be any more concerned with MIME info than with IP header length. That your inadequate and buggy mailreader exposes you to the inner workings of MIME shouldn't be held against the standard.
My main point is that the most compelling strategy seems to be to stick with ASCII for a while, avoid minor-but-painful gains with Postscript, Acrobat, Replica, TeX, FrameViewer, etc., and then jump to the Web/html/http/blah blah when the time is right.
The two (email and web) are not alternatives, as you have stated in your previous post. Email has gone to MIME. HTTP couldn't exist without MIME. What on earth is your problem with MIME? Your posts read like they come from someone who complains about 8 bit data on the net because everytime they display it on their terminal it makes strange noises and generally screws things up. PLEASE stop using your VTwhatever emulator and you will find that MIME becomes a non-issue. Out of sight, out of mind. All you will notice is that all of a sudden you get more out of the net while finding it simpler to use. PLEASE! For your benefit and ours. -- Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.