Comments for Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

Comment from steve on 2006-04-11

2006-04-12T05:05:14Z

Also, personal privacy - many times your personal information is stored as part of the word document - found under by looking under properties.

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

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Comment from Leo on 2006-03-12

2006-03-13T03:28:38Z

That comment saddens me, because it clearly values form over content, and IMO, that's just WRONG.

I also know it can be true, because I got a GREAT grade on an essentially content-free term paper back in college because I was the only one at the time to use a word processor.

I believe it's a fundamentally flawed long-term strategy. Good well written ideas should shine - even in plain text unformatted emails. Hopefully that cream will eventually rise to the top.

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

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Comment from John Benson on 2006-03-12

2006-03-13T03:12:33Z

I started to rebut every one of Leo's points, but decided to hit the high point. If you are sending a short email to confirm a lunch, then he has some valid points.

But if you are interested in maintaining your image in the academic or business world, then the formatting found in Word is vital. Typography is important. Take a look at
http://www.aspiramedia.com/fadtastic/?p=79
for some additional information.

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

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Comment from Mark on 2006-03-11

2006-03-12T05:24:19Z

While I agree with most of the above, the compatibility issues can also be easily avoided by simply saving Word files as RTF documents. Most people will be able to open and read the file, but also maintain the ability to edit and copy/paste, something not nearly as likely with the infamous PDF's.

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

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Comment from Cliff on 2006-03-10

2006-03-11T06:44:54Z

I got an e-mail from someone not too long ago, and each of the quotation marks was a three-character string of gobbledegook. I made a sideways remark about Mac owners, and he told me that those are from MS Word! for Windows!! When you have the fancy quotes turned on and then paste it into the e-mail body, this is often what your readers get.

I stopped doing that to people many, many years ago. I generally need for what I write to make an impression, so I've learned to make *all* my writings as readable as possible.

Years ago, when I was working online for WordPerfect Magazine, I developed my own system for using only the keys on the keyboard to format. I even use this system for submitting rough drafts to editors, it's so intuitive.

First, I ignore any and all accented characters. If they're needed, the editors will put them in. Spell checkers will catch them no problem. But on this end, there's no telling what will end up on my editor's screen if I try to make a fancy accented letter from my end. Meanwhile, my friend's wife is named is Renee, and y'all know what I'm saying even without the accented "e"!

Of course all paragraphs are separated with a blank line. We all know that, too.

All quotation marks become the "feet" and "inches" marks that live on the keyboard. Most word processors come with a way to convert them. If not, most editors have automated this process somehow.

An em-dash is a space, two hyphens, and another space. This makes sure that nobody thinks I'm putting two words together with a hyphen, and also makes sure that the em-dash wraps at the end of the line rather than halfway through the em-dash, with one hyphen above and the other on the next line. Ellipses are three periods (dots, for all you youngsters out there -- just kidding!).

If I want to indent, I simply
put three spaces before each line
and use hard-returns at the end
of each line, like this.

Again, the editor will intuitively
know what to do with it!

I use the asterisks for *italics* simply because I don't like to disrupt the "grey" of a page: others use _underscores_ for their own reasons. Almost everybody knows what either of these mean. When I want to do a footnote[*] or endnote[23], it goes in square brackets with no space after the word in question.

If you use Word or WordPerfect to type your letters, etc, using this method, be sure to turn the automatic curly-quotes off. I used to put an extra button on the main button bar that toggles this feature, but nowadays I don't use it at all. Instead, I simply convert any doc that does need the fancy typesetters marks. (On converting a doc, with WP, the trick is to turn typesetters quotes on and then search and replace the single "feet" mark with another "feet" mark, and then search and replace the double "inches" mark with another "inches" mark. I don't know how to convert a doc in Word, but I do know that this trick works in more than just WordPerfect, and has to do with how the the program knows to insert which typesetters marks while you're typing.

That's all I can remember for now. Take care!

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

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Comment from Lakhan on 2006-03-10

2006-03-11T05:46:19Z

I agree that Word files are bloated and are unsuitable as attachments.But if one likes to send a good document using ALL of Word's features, the better thing would be to create a Word document, convert it to .pdf format and send it as an attachment.That way you would have achieved your purpose of a good presentation as well as having a light attachment.

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A comment on: Why is attaching a Word document to email such a bad idea?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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