> All of that can be done in pure ASCII.
... that is, if you speak english. You can definitely write the way of
Shakespeare, but you have a tiny problem writing the way of Moli�re, let
alone Confucius. Then, there are things that are hard to do in writing,
however able is your prose. Maps and pictures, songs and recordings come to
mind. There was a rationale for creating MIME.
Framing the debate as ASCII versus HTML is a bit reductive. The real
separation here is self-contained versus network based. Carrying a picture
in a message is definitely valuable, carrying a link to a picture that is
stored on some random web site creates an obvious privacy risk -- the URL
itself can be the hidden communication channel that tracks you.
