The on-line experience changes on a daily basis. The vast improvements of today’s web application’s (especially considering Ajax-based application’s) have brought great benefit to the user experience. However, I seem to have lost something in the transition: patience. Technology in general has put a spin on my level of patience on-line. My first internet experience came from a 66Mhz processor with minimal RAM and a 14.4 kbps dial-up modem (can you beat that one?). I remember thinking the ability to listen to music on the internet was awesome. I would wait over 20 minutes to download a 30 second clip of a song. That’s 20 minutes for 30 seconds. Now, if I can’t download a 40Mb file in a little over a minute, I’m not happy.
These days, even running Windows eats away at my patience. I can’t stand waiting on it to boot up (or shut down). It seems to take longer and longer every day. I hate being able to get to the GUI before it’s fully loaded. While it’s really a deceptive attempt by Microsoft to make you think Windows loads fast, some users still view it as an advantage, but it shouldn’t be. It’s not like you can do anything. You wait just as long, if not longer, to open a program or browser, only you get to look at your desktop background while it thinks. When I actually see the Windows interface, I should be done waiting. But that’s just me. I’m sure the Mac OS runs a lot smoother than Windows, which leaves me with more temptation to switch.