my capitalization/punctuation (was: Re: [geeks] Re: Need an opinion)

[Peter L. Wargo]

On Friday, May 17, 2002, at 04:13 PM, alex j avriette wrote:

>> It's more of a visual affront.  Capitalization exists for a purpose - 
>> it makes it easier to read and understand a group of words.  I find 
>> writing like yours difficult to read when it lacks proper 
>> capitalization and punctuation.
>
> i rarely criticize anyone for the style of their prose because its the 
> content that is important to me. not the delivery.

Ahh, but content is only useful if it is presented in a digestible 
fashion the the audience.  For example, you could print red text on a 
blue background (Wired committed this atrocity a ways back), but the 
readability would be a hinderance to the delivery of the message.

You see parallels in the computer world - there are many standards (take 
SMTP mail for example) that prove useful because they provide a common 
base to work upon.  The printed word is no different, as the standards 
have evolved over many years to provide us with a common base that 
*works* for the human brain.  For those of us unfortunate enough to be 
speaking/writing English, there are constructs and typographical 
standards to provide effective communication.

-Pete