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Bon Journal

Slow internet connection

Space, or the lack of, isn't the only thing that requires getting used to. Pace is another. Having gotten used to my American friend's DSL and cable internet connections for checking my email, I get frustrated by the slower dial-up connection I have from my home. But even 44 kB/sec is far faster than 16.8 kB/sec I'm getting from my Dutch friend's dial-up.

Watching my hotmail slowly load, I had to kill another browser to reduce the traffic. I need a web-based email that has no pop-up windows, images, or other elements that take a long time to load. Hotmail gives only 2 MB of storage space and is prone to spam. But free email is very sticky, especially if you've already filled the free address book with your contacts.

While waiting for each message to be downloaded, I started thinking about the life that's on hold when we're waiting for something to happen. "Multi-tasking" has become a behaviour pattern for the time-challenged. Waiting is not a legitimate activity because you're not doing anything when you're waiting. With slow internet connections, I sense my productivity decrease ten-fold. It dissuades me from wanting to check my email.

How do people with slow internet connections cope? They can't surf the Net or rely on it for everyday information needs.

So how am I going to cope the next few days? I might as well as go off-line and start reading all the material I've printed from the Web when I had access to a T1 connection. I surfed like crazy then but had no time to read.

27 March 2002 Wednesday