Some newsletters are purely informational. I like to update my customers on upcoming holidays because it affects how we do business. I also like to update them to remind them of where they can get our W-9 form for tax filing. They're not really the type to use RSS or check the website.
I do get the idea of email updates in traditional businesses, it's mostly marketing.
But why would heavily technical people want to clutter their inbox voluntarily with newsletters? Do some people enjoy reading long-form newsletter content in their email client that much?
That I don't understand. As has been proposed as a solution before, I see a lot more utility in a daily or weekly roundup of all newsletters delivered to my inbox. I do like to read a few specific programming-related newsletters, but don't actually clickthrough that frequently.
