You’ve Got Mail … Someplace Or, Almost As Useful As Stonehenge

I see people able to get to their email page and then feel totally lost – and it is no wonder. First, we are used to television: we sit 6-10 feet away from a screen with an implicit focus. With blooper type programs, we may be fooled by not noticing what is happening behind the focus, but generally, we have adjusted to television and it has adjusted to us. On the other hand, when we read, at a distance of 12-18 inches, we focus on small areas with the assumption that the matter moves from left to right. With web pages, we have no such guidance. Instead, we are staring at the equivalent of a TV screen, two to three feet away with no glasses that work at that distance, and attempting to read left to right, but the screen or page does not let you. The design and presentation of web pages are still in their infancy … (The concepts below apply to many websites, not just mail.)

If there is any possible standard it would be the Stonehenge concept. That is, the top third, half, or even more, of the screen is totally useless, consisting mostly of, what are called, banner ads. Do not click on these. Then there may be two columns approximately two inches wide, one on the left and one on the right. Again one of these columns may consist of nothing but advertising or something often called “sponsored links”. The other column may consist of a table of contents. Generally brown on black or black on cobalt blue and totally incomprehensible (on some web home pages, in particular.) [Hint: if you are very careful, and move your cursor, hold the left mouse button down, then drag the mouse through these columns, much as you would to select text, you will notice that the color reverses, such that black now shows as white. You can also click on View>Text Size on the menu bar where it says File-Edit-View, to enlarge]

Like Stonehenge, the useful part is what is left, the middle column. You will probably have to scroll down (or hit the Page Down or PgDn key once) to see anything of any possible use. Here is where you will actually see something that could possibly be construed as an attempt at mail.

At this point, click on anything that says Inbox, proceed as above/page down, then click once on anything under the Subject or From column to read the mail. Try this slowly, left to right, as you are looking for a change – typically underline or hand – under your cursor. No change, no read. [With Netscape or AOL, you are merely told how many new messages you have – nothing else; click on this message to get to your Inbox.]

Hopefully now you won’t have to wait till the solstice to learn to read your email …

Archie specializes in tutoring and training of seniors in PC security, Windows, Internet, and Microsoft Office. He holds the CompTIA A+ certification and is often featured speaker at Goodwin House in Alexandria; he can be emailed at ama3@tfci-us.com