purpledawn:
You don't type your long posts on a PDA do you?
(brandishes crucifix)
So our familiar quote boxes aren't possible, but all the letters of the alphabet are available and basic punctuation
Easily. There's no reason one can't type a normal-looking message from a PDA phone and still be quick about it.
I typed that from a PalmOne Treo. It lacks some characters used in our format codes, such as the brackets:
< > [ ]
Other phones do supply these characters. Of course, on a PDA phone in 2006CE it's still begging for a reboot to open multiple windows or attempt many copy-and-paste moves.
Chat rooms gave us that no-cap, no-punctuation
u and
cuz look. Time is more pressing in a chat environment, I realize, but the messages and typos tend to be more ephemeral, too. The recipient of a chat message can always ask for clarification.
Here at EvC everything we say is for the record. That makes it worth taking some care, I feel. A post doesn't have to be textbook perfect. But it's advisable to write in a way dozens of international readers (including lurkers) can understand--not just today, but 15 years from now. It's not as if all the potential readers of your post will be able to request clarification, as in chat, and expect an immediate response.
___
Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo repair.
Archer
All species are transitional.