[djensen47]

What do you do when you're trying to explain a technical issue that can't be explained in 500 chars or requires code snippets? Maybe move to a different medium? A different email address?

A codepaste might work for snippets as long as it's not sensitive. You still might need a way to explain how to reproduce a problem.

Maybe these are all just add-ons for such a service.

[mikle]

I don't think he means you replace your email with this, just have this as a public email. You will still give coworkers or collaborators your regular address and they could send you long code and messages, but strangers wouldn't be able to.

And obviously if you are in a position where strangers should send you random unsolicited code or long messages you should just not use this.

[jiggy2011]

The problem is that it's difficult to know if a stranger might send you a long unsolicited email. Perhaps one of your friends meets somebody who might have a job for you and gives out your email address or whatever.

The majority of the spam I receive is under 500 chars anyway so it wouldn't really help in that regard.

[mikle]

I think the point is that that stranger should introduce himself first in less then 300 chars and then you can decide whether it is important enough to hear him out fully.

Your last sentence makes me feel like you didn't understand the idea at all - it is not to fight spam, but to help you manage communication with real people that you don't know. The basic example is a VC flooded with long copy pasted pitches instead of a poignant and succinct pitch.