[LINK] Conflating multiple concepts into the single word "email"

[Marghanita da Cruz]

So, you chose to email us about it!

Marghanita
Robin Whittle wrote:
> This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time.  Today I found the
> trifecta - a site which uses the term "email" on its own for three
> separate concepts:
> 
>   1 - Email address.
> 
>   2 - Email account accessed via website or desktop/cell-phone/tablet
>       client software.
> 
>   3 - Email message.
> 
> The page http://www.photonicsonline.com/hub/bucket/homelatestheadlines
> invites me to:
> 
>  "Get the latest news, product offerings and industry updates
>   delivered to your in-box.  Enter your email. [1]"
> 
> After I entered my email address a window popped up with:
> 
>  "Thanks for signing up for the Photonics Online newsletter! You
>   need to confirm your subscription before you'll start receiving
>   the newsletter. To do so:
> 
>     Check your email [2] for a message from Photonics Online.
>     Click the confirmation link in that email [3].
>     If you don't see the email [3] in about 10 minutes, please
>     check your spam filter.
> 
>     Add info at photonicsonline.com to your list of "safe senders"
>     in your email program. [Now they are being specific, but they
>     should use "email account" whether or not it is accessed by a
>     a program on a PC, tablet or whatever.] Otherwise, the
>     newsletter might end up in your spam folder instead of your inbox.
> 
>   Once you do that, you'll receive the newsletter the next time it
>   is published."
> 
> Their message did fall foul of my (not recently updated) Spamassassin
> system and was dumped into "Spam Marginal", due to it containing an
> image linked from a remote website and being HTML only.  There was no
> further use of "email", just the perfectly apt term "message".
> 
> Despite being HTML, the link address was not a link - I had to copy and
> paste it into a browser window.
> 
> Whoever created this system seemed to think that just having
> "http://www.xxxx . . ." in an email message would transform it into a
> clickable link.   Email systems tend to do that for plain text messages,
> but not (as far as I know) for HTML messages.  Maybe that is changing
> now that everyone and their gnat is using cellphones and the like for
> email communications, with what I assume are inherent difficulties doing
> things like copy and paste to a browser window.
> 
>   - Robin            http://www.firstpr.com.au
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications Pty Ltd
http://ramin.com.au/
Phone:(+61)0414-869202