Originally Posted by
green granite
Why would I want a summary of what is already there and on obvious view?
Because it's neither 'there' nor 'in obvious view'. Read on.
All I need need to do is click on the folder marked 'junk' and all the headings are there for me to see,
Except that if you are using an email client, there may be no "folder marked 'junk'" for you to see (in any case if using POP3, or if not subscribed via IMAP, as is most often the case).
I don't need yet another e-mail telling me what is in the junk box.
I see you only use webmail. In that case, the notification is not particularly useful. In fact, I do not get it if I log in via webmail, only when using a mail user agent (e.g., Thunderbird).
And exactly why do you state that I have "low expectations"? Low expectations of what?
Low expectations as regards the level of service they (Hotmail in this case) are able to offer. What has happened to Keef's quasi-correspondents did not need to happen and indeed would not happen if their email provider offered a better service, but they are not going to be doing that as long as their users' expectations are met by the current service.
As far as I'm concerned hot mail is a perfectly useable e-mail system,
Exactly. It meets your expectations...
my point was if you don't understand how the concept works then you will never get the best out of it.
...and this demonstrates how low those are. Your point is valid, and you have to draw the line somewhere as to the level of skills required, but where?
Clearly, you wouldn't expect a typical email user to know by heart RFC2822, be able to recite significant sections of RFC2821, and be capable of decoding by hand a MIME-encoded multipart signed message. On the other hand, you probably expect a typical email user to have at least basic reading (and possibly writing) skills, maybe even the capability to use a computer or other electronic device (although this is not strictly necessary, nor is the ability to read come to think of it).
Quite where you draw the line between those two is the million Denarii question. In my opinion, based on whichever knowledge and experience I might have in the subject area, the usability threshold for basic email could be much lower than is generally the case.
80% of all e-mails sent are spam so I think that all mail servers do a good job of ditching spam but every now and again they will get it wrong, whoever owns them.
There are two ways of getting it wrong: ditching a good email (false positive), and letting through a bad one (false negative). A good system will always be biased towards the less harmful alternative--something which Hotmail appear not to be getting as right as they could.
Yup, bbrunton is correct.