Jim Henderson wrote:
> Create a letter using WordPerfect 5.1.  Create a letter using Microsoft 
> Word 2003.  Including the time just to start the applications, WP51 
> starts quicker, and you finish quicker.

A more appropriate comparison would be WordPerfect 5.1 to Wordpad if 
you're just doing bare-bones word processing that needs a little 
formatted text.

> As I said, there are some tasks that are faster on modern equipment with 
> modern software.  But the majority of people need a word processor, a 
> spreadsheet, and access to the 'net.  Maybe presentation software.

The majority of people these days run most commonly a web browser (with 
several windows/tabs open *at the same time*), some sort of file sharing 
program (BitTorrent, whatever other P2P clients are popular these days), 
iTunes if they have an iPod *shudder*, music/video player of choice, 
some kind of game from Freecell to Crysis, an instant messaging program, 
an antivirus program.

A 'casual computer user' is far more likely these days to just have 
their computer for playing WoW and chatting than typing letters or doing 
spreadsheets.

Or did you mean *business* users?  *They're* the ones who need the word 
processor, spreadsheet, access to the 'net and presentation software.  I 
don't even have presentation software installed.

> With a decent connection to the 'net, surfing the web 15 years ago was 
> generally faster, if only because the amount of crap that people put on 
> web pages was reduced.

1993, surfing the web was *not* generally faster.  The web was this 
strange new thing, people used gifs more often than jpegs, *didn't* use 
img size tags so the browser (if it had the ability, given the 
attributes) would know how to do page layout so you didn't see anything 
until the page finished loading, had background images on every page 
whether it was useful or not, loaded MIDI or wav files to play at full 
volume, and not split their site into useful subsections so you just had 
one long long page...

...great heavens, I just described the average MySpace page.

*bangs head against wall*

Nowadays, you can get more garbage in a lot less time.  :P

-- 
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.digitalartsuk.com

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