[thelist] responsiveness from "the coffee shop"

[Hassan Schroeder]

On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 7:37 PM, Will <willthemoor at gmail.com> wrote:

> Certainly true but, and I think this was implied in the original question, optimization isn't free.

True enough, but if "customer satisfaction" == "optimization", then it's
not really optional, either  :-)

And I think there's frequently low-hanging fruit -- adding an index on
a db field for a common query, caching a relatively static result set --
that can appear to be a big improvement from the user perspective.

> I think load times at a random coffee shop is a perfectly valid endpoint
> but the client can't expect it to load quickly there for free.

"load quickly" implies specifically a network issue, where it's probably
more useful to phrase it as "the client expects the product to be usably
responsive" -- wherever s/he intends to use it.

But I can't see anyone saying "the client can't expect it to be usable
there for free" -- then what are they paying for? Something that only
works on a Gigabit Ethernet wired connection to an OC12 fiber ring
direct to a peering facility? If that's stated in your contract, fine, but...

My original point was more "the coffee shop is the new here" as more
and more apps *assume* mobility.  How many people regularly use
wired connections these days? It's a totally reasonable assumption that
apps/site will be used "from a coffee shop". And if you don't control the
network, it's imperative to look at what you *do* control.

I'm looking forward to playing with the idea of mobile-first development
as well as exploring other optimization techniques.

FWIW,
-- 
Hassan Schroeder ------------------------ hassan.schroeder at gmail.com
twitter: @hassan