Short: Yeesh, I'm deleting this thread for sure. :)
Long:
This matters to me, because I want to be informed while having limited time to spend.
Naturally, I wondered how I might fix this myself, leaving the delicate sensibilities of my fellow raconteurs untrodden. I'm not sure what fix would work. Sometimes a reply has nothing to do with the message to which the responder is replying, and the subject line is totally different. Sometimes a reply is actually a response, and the subject line might be the same ("hyperbole is great!"), somewhat different ("perhaps communication is better [was: 'hyperbole is great!']"), or totally different. Using simple message ID references and the conventions of normal conversation, without turning it into an AI project, seems the best we can manage.
If we continue to tolerate the broken, guess what?
Indeed, I decided not to continue tolerating a broken social convention, by asking a fellow human being to make a small change in behavior. I can only imagine what I would have unleashed by mentioning top-posting. ;)
-C
-- Craig Latta www.netjam.org +31 6 2757 7177 (SMS ok) + 1 415 287 3547 (no SMS)