The Cunctator wrote:
The short response to Erik's reference for email over a BBS is essentially that for a power-user, with the talent, knowledge, and time to configure and use "good email clients" which make "quoting and threading transparent and easy to use", email is preferable.
The reality is that is not the case for most people.
I don't accept that mailing lists present an additional barrier for most people. Almost everyone uses mailing lists -- from Yahoo groups on up -- and most people understand the concept implicitly. The user interface is one that they are already familiar with, i.e. their comfortable normal mail software, as opposed to a brand-new and generally idiosyncratic user interface for a bbs.
Because the the discussion forum is currently in email form, there are several additional barriers to entry.
But I don't think these barriers are very large, and not as large as the barriers to using a BBS.
But instead of having the argument about why a BBS would be better than an Email list, I recommend setting up a BBS, and letting practice decide.
I'm open to this idea, and I'm keenly interested in what the Japanese speakers are doing, and why they are doing it. I wonder if their reasons are similar to yours, or if they have other, unique reasons, having to do with Japanese language support in email or something like that.
Unless there's a way to gateway email conversations into a bbs, then the bbs is almost certainly doomed to failure, just due to inertia.
--Jimbo