They've changed little in 44 years because they've worked, for 44 years. One of the "tensions" they claimed about push-vs-pull is a client-side issue, not the email technology itself. If you use a mailing list for critical emergencies, everyone should be using push. Otherwise the consumer can decide.<p>Another one of their tensions, debating type & quality of message -- several mailing lists I've participated in have spun off subsequent mailing lists to discuss in detail topics (eg. a mesh network discussion on a developer list) or moved to private conversations.<p>It's <i>good</i> that mailing lists are open and people can talk about random topics -- that's what a forum is for. Good clients let you mute or block people you don't like to hear from.
Oh, it is so tempting to reply with "PDF files: What's Wrong With Them, and How Can We Fix Them". There, I did it.<p>Here is a 30 second summary of the paper from one of the authors: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t0U7-BiWHw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t0U7-BiWHw</a>