...because the beauty of Hotmail and other Web based e-mails is that you can access them on your travels.
Why would I want to use my precious Hotel line or my host's bandwidth to log onto PPRuNe just to send and receive e-mails?
I got one of the first PPRuNe e-mail addresses but have not used it once after I discovered that I couldn't use it through Outlook Express.
The introduction of PPRuNe e-mail (with its advertising) was one of the more blatant bits of evidence of the commercial aspects of this BBS.