[bregma]

It's people quoting text, not threads of messages.

The ability to semantically parse text to determine what order paragraphs should be displayed in to suit the tastes of the individual reader is a very recent development. Or, rather, will be soon. Maybe not very soon.

[SoftTalker]

Quoting the prior message(s) should be off by default. When paper letters were still written, did you enclose a copy of the original letter when you answered it? No. And nobody looks at the growing trail of the entire message thread that's copied below your reply. Just leave the subject line intact and anyone that doesn't have a brain-dead email client will see the messages threaded properly.

If you need to address a specific point in a message you're replying to, quote just that bit.

We are emailing TBs of data around daily that provides no value to anyone.

[GJim]

> When paper letters were still written, did you enclose a copy of the original letter when you answered it?

The point of bottom posting was you never left the original text intact, but trimmed it to show the relevant details you are replying to and so enhance readability. Exactly as I am doing now in this reply.

> If you need to address a specific point in a message you're replying to, quote just that bit.

Precisely. Just like this. We are on the same page!