Bottom posting v top posting

[Thomas Schneider]

Top posting makes complicated scientific conversations with several
interanal threads impossible.  "Bottom" posting - which is really
splitting the original email into parts (separated by blank lines for
visual clarity) allows people to hold very complex discussions.

The worst Top Posting case I ever saw occured when my technician
ordered some DNA to be synthesized.  Unfortunately the company she
ordered from was in the path of the Rita hurricane and they were
unable to fill the order for some weeks.  When they recovered the
sales person top posted a reply to her asking her to send the order
again.  It turned out that the bottom of the email contained the
original order.  He had sent it back to her!

So Top posters never read further down the email, it's a total waste
of bandwidth.

Also, Top posting makes searches hit the same text multiple times,
making it difficult to find a particular email.  If one carefully
trims away all the irrelevant material, leaving just the minimum
necessary then this effect is minimized.

Tom