Perry E. Metzger wrote:
Timothy C. May says:
I see two "stable attractors" for text/graphics/multimedia/etc. sent over the Net:
1. Straight text, ASCII, 80 column format. All systems can handle this, all mailers and newsreaders can handle it, it's what the Usenet is essentially based upon, and it gets the job done.
Sorry, Tim, but this isn't true. I know people who still own VIC-20s that can't handle 80 columns. Also, users of ASR-33 teletypes might be left out by the requirement to handle full ASCII. I was using an ASR-33 full time only 15 years ago.
But this isn't 15 years ago, and I daresay there isn't a _single_ subscriber to the Cypherpunks list using a VIC-20 or anything remotely similar. Of the 600 or so subscribers, and certainly of the 100-200 involved posters, I would bet that essentially all of them can display ASCII text on an 80-column screen. (I won't get into a Scholastic argument about what "all" means, as in "all systems can handle this," especially as in my message I later said "95%," but clearly 80-column ASCII is nearly universal these days. Not 15 years ago, perhaps, but this is now.)
Now, I know that all usenet postings in Japan these days use ISO-2022 encoded characters, and MIME and all that, and that people in Russia use similar methods to carry their stuff, but they are just bounders. I say its back to 38 columns and upper-case only Baudot in order to meet the lowest common denominator.
You are once again misrepresenting my points. I said no such thing.
And of course there are no MIME standards; its physically impossible to deploy MIME on two different platforms identically. Why, the specifications are all written in english, and we know no engineers can read! I can see why you would reject MIME so vehemently.
I said no such thing, so your sarcasm is wasted.
The issue is not unwillingness to use new technology, it is, rather, the issue of "stable attractors."
I see.
Do you? You seemed to have read into my message what you wished to, that I was making some argument for going backward, as this has been the thrust of your sarcasm. I made no such point. There's no point in arguing this any further. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tc/tcmay