HTML in emails

[PeteM]

Mr Ellis Weinberger wrote  on 26-09-08 09:20:
> Could colleagues consider turning off the HTML in their emails?


Only HTML? Think yourself lucky you're not dealing directly with the 
British Home Office, my friend.

The other day I emailed their public affairs office, noting that I 
couldn't open a PDF that I had downloaded from their website (it was a 
consultation document). Eight days later they replied by sending me a 
*Microsoft Word* attachment. I kid you not.

On opening this, I discovered that I must now upgrade my Acrobat Reader 
to a version that is not in fact available for my operating system.

I have never before come across PDF documents that I couldn't open, but 
apparently all Home Office documents are now created in this format. 
Perhaps they do it to try and minimise the number of irritating replies 
they get to their consultations. So much for inclusivity and the Digital 
Divide.

I had previously thought the Department of Health was the most 
IT-illiterate of all government departments, but this plumbs new heights.

-- 
Pete Mitchell