Is Spam a good thing?

[Jacques]

Everybody (except Spamcop) loathes Spam, but is it actually a good thing?

Spammers follow the hoi poloi. If a ton of people are using a certain communication system, then that?s where the spam will be: flickr, MySpace, Wordpress etc. As people switch communication technologies so the spammers follow. And this pushes technology to either combat Spam or ultimately invent a new communication system due to current technology being made much more difficult to use.

So whilst spam is perceived to be bad, it is actually good?

[Lizard]

Have you been at the Meths Jacques?, spam is like someone pissing through your letter box every hour, and anything that causes it to increase cant be good....can it?


Liz

[Jacques]

Let's apply a littel bit of Charles Darwins evolution theory, natural selection, as to why something might die off shall we?

A virus can't ultimately kill off a species, natural selection says an equilibrium will be reached. So it follows that spam wont kill email, it has to let it survive just enough or spam itself will dissappear. It also follows that we?ll never see a communication system that isn't somehow abused.

Now we get clever with viruses (virii?) and use drugs against them, they evolve so we have to change our tactics. Same as spam. We fight it, it evolves, we change tack, it follows. So if spam is driving technological advances that surely is a positive thing?

...erm, yes I've neen at the meths again !drink!

[neoXaur]

Maybe

[neoXaur]

Then again not necessarily

[neoXaur]

Actually, no

[Lizard]

I myself have just had a pint of formaldahyde Jaques, and I am begining to agree with your logic..



Pass me another choirboy vicar, this ones split!

[Sam Slater]

[quote]A virus can't ultimately kill off a species, natural selection says an equilibrium will be reached.[/quote]

Viruses probably have killed off lots of species since evolution began Jacques, it's just that because they killed off the species, they died out as well. Darwinian evolution favoured the viruses that made one organism ill -or near to death- but entered another organism before it's host died. There may be hundreds of viruses we contract, they use us to reproduce, and we

[quote]So if spam is driving technological advances that surely is a positive thing?[/quote]

Not necessarily, but I hope so. It will certainly improve the spamming and anti-spamming software! I'm doubtful about hardware/software in general though.

[Arginald Valleywater]

Spam fritters are fine with a dash of ketchup.