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Blame the attachment syndrome. You're sending attachments other people can't decipher. You're sending a Microsoft Word document to someone who doesn't have Microsoft Word, maybe. Or you're mailing pictures of the kids that the nobody else can view.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Sometimes, sending attachments is a dumb idea


Nov. 6, 2002


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard

   You probably don't know it, but every now and then you make life miserable for the people you send e-mail to. They're probably too nice to complain.
   Or maybe, just maybe, they're embarrassed. They probably think they did something wrong, so they keep it to themselves.
   What is this e-mail faux pas?
   It's the attachment syndrome. You're sending attachments other people can't decipher. You're sending a Microsoft Word document to someone who doesn't have Microsoft Word, maybe. Or you're mailing pictures of the kids that the nobody else can view.
   All this is unnecessary. I've come up with two simple rules for e-mail attachments. They're easy to remember:
   1. Never send attachments when you're simply sending text.
   2. When you do send attachments, make sure they are "common denominator" files.
   The first rule requires a short explanation. Writing an e-mail message is second nature these days. You're not creating an attachment; you're just writing a note to your sister-in-law or a reminder to your absent-minded mate to meet you at the theater after work.
   You write this sort of simple note by creating a blank e-mail message, typing something and sending it off. So how could I possibly warn you against sending your texts as attachments?
   Because it happens all the time. Your Uncle Marty sits down at his new computer, fires up Microsoft Word, types a note and sends it via e-mail. There's a toolbar button and even a menu item in Word for doing this, and Uncle Marty, like bazillion equally uninformed others around the world, doesn't realize he's actually sending a Microsoft Word document as an attachment.
   The solution for Marty and all the others -- for you and me, if we want to use a good word processor to write messages -- is to write everything we want using the word processor. Then we can copy the text and paste it into a message. (I'll explain how to do this in a minute.)
   The second rule is just plain common sense. Attachments can be mystery meat to the people you send them to. Sending an America Online "ART" image file is guaranteed to cause trouble unless the recipient subscribes to AOL, for example. Sending a Microsoft Word "DOC" file to someone who doesn't have Microsoft Word isn't going to make you any friends. And mailing a Microsoft Works document to someone like me who hates Microsoft Works and has no way to view such documents is a sure way to test the limits of patience.
   Want to see how this sort of thing can go from bad to worse? It's tough enough sending some little image that no one else can view. Try sending a gigantic MPEG movie that only three others in the known universe are able to watch. or try sending a dozen "RAW" pictures from a Canon digital camera that are, by nature, unviewable unless you've installed special Canon software.
   If you're sending pictures, stick to JPEG. (Yes, I know that PNG is a better format. But stick to JPEG.) If you're sending sounds, stick to MP3. (Yes, I know that Macs, Windows PCs and Linux computers are all able to play WAV files. But stick to MP3.)
   If you're sending texts, insert them (paste them) into the message you're writing. Copy the text (use Ctrl-A, then Ctrl-C on Windows, or Cmd-A, then Cmd-C on a Mac); click inside a new message and press Ctrl-V on Windows or Cmd-V on a Mac. (Yes, Windows PCs and Macs are THAT similar.)
   Next: How to view those oddball attachments on Windows, Macs and Linux even if you don't have the programs that created them.