In the universe of “Things the world doesn’t need” the reply-all button ranks pretty darn high. It’s not surprising to me that I’m not the only one who feels strongly about not wanting to be spammed with random emails from people whom I generally like and respect and unknown fellow list subscribers alike. The puzzling thing for me is why?? Why do people choose reply-all, if the simple reply button next to it would do? Do they hit reply-all to every single email without thinking? Are they so arrogant that they think what they have to say will be useful to and welcomed by all recipients? And why - after getting reminded (by me, sadly) that discussions should not be held via reply-all email responses but on a designated discussion forum or limited to relevant participants - do people hit reply-all over and over and over again?
This is one of those many moments, albeit in small scale, when I question the ability of human beings to think before acting and to learn from past experiences. All this suggests that the solution is a technical one: let’s eliminate the reply-all function or bury it some place where it cannot easily be found (like the BCC button, for example).