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I didn't follow the thread all that closely, but I'm not sure it's not as
clear as you think. Saying, "I would do this," doesn't necessarily mean
that someone else will think or do in the same fashion. For example there
are a lot of lists where you do just send and email saying "unsubscribe"
and then somehow you get taken off the list.<br>
<br>
I'm a retired teacher, and know for a fact that many people have difficulty
following directions. You could actually be in the same room watching the
same computer and say, "Click on the link at the bottom of the screen." and
the person you are talking to still might not see it. They might not know
how to use the scroll bar, and be completely ignorant of a wheel mouse.
I was trying to help a guy, and he didn't know what a "link" was or for that
matter that you could even "click" on it. I have seen school teachers who
honestly had great difficulty even running a mouse. If you don't think all
this is true just watch a "handicapped" Mac user try to use Windows, or watch
them try to use the KDE desktop set in the single click mode.<br>
<br>
In all honesty Mac users seem to be the most lame, and completely unadaptable
to any new circumstance. I saw a long time Mac user with a doctorate in
math become completely confused and frustrated by the "Windows" style task
bar. He claimed you couldn't see what applications were open, and became
lost when trying to switch documents when more than one was open at a time.
He couldn't understand a file "tree" and hence stored everything on his
"desktop." Even his Mac was a complete mess with a multitude of documents
stored right on his computer "desktop."<br>
<br>
Randy Arabie wrote:<br>
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cite="midE19PoEa-0006T9-00@cms.opensourcehost.com">
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<pre wrap="">Probably what you do is "suggest" to them that it is an easy task and
expedient for them to unsubscribe themselves; and I'm guessing that
you point them in the right direction.
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<pre wrap=""><!---->
I hate to beat a dead horse, but here are my thoughts:
1. If I voluntarily sign up for a email list via a form on a webpage,
then that's one of the first places I would go looking for information
on unsubscribing.
2. If the email from a list to which I wish to subscribe has a link
with "listinfo" as part of the URL, then that's another likely spot I
would go to look for information on unsubscribing.
3. Immediately upon subscribing to the list the new subscriber
receives an email with explicit instructions on how to unsubscribe.
4. I expect any reasonably intelligent person (especially someone who
proclaims they are eager to LEARN) to stumble upon the unsubscribe
information via one of the three routes listed above.
5. I don't think the anyone over-reacted. While the first request was
met with a rather blunt response, I wouldn't consider it rude. And,
IMO the responses to the second request were "earned".
6. Zonker is right in stating that this is a perfect (and small)
example of a larger societal problem. The unsubscriber was not seeking
help, he/she was asking someone to fix his/her problem without first
making an effort to do so on his/her own.
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