[thelist] OT: Slower Modems,does it matter?

Shirley Kaiser, SKDesigns skaiser1 at skdesigns.com
Fri Feb 22 12:26:00 CST 2002


At 10:06 AM 2/22/2002, you typed:
>I was just talking to one of my clients about posting his newsletter to his
>site.  In the conversation we had talked about the file size of the document
>and I mentioned it would download rather slowly for those who still have a
>28.8 or 56K modem.

My understanding is that the majority of the users out there still use a
modem rather than cable, etc. Fast connections are increasing but by far
are still in the minority in the general population that goes on the Internet.

>Now to understand this a little better, it's a church web site and most of
>the congregation is in the older category but the target audience is all
>ages.

Ah, well, then I'd guess that most of them use modems then unless it's in
an especially affluent area in the midst of the higher technology services.
Well, and what do you mean by "older category," too? Over 40, over 65, over 80?

>But what was said to me in the conversation was the people who have the
>slower modems don't care how long the browser takes to load what ever it is
>they want to look at, that's why they are still on the slower modems.

Based on the over 65+ crowd, I'd also guess that many may not even know
what a modem really is, much less its speed. They may understand they need
that gizmo to access the Internet, though.

>Is this a general feeling among clients and do they actually care about how
>fast or slow the downloading of their web site takes for people with slower
>modem?.

I wouldn't say it's whether they care or not but rather that they just
don't know that they have options NOT to have to wait.... big difference.
They didn't grow up with computers like my kids did, so it's a totally
different world to them and there are widely varying degrees of knowledge
and understanding about computers, going online, e-mail, etc.

Given the knowledge, who'd want to wait for a page to download if their
next door neighbor with cable or DSL just clicks and the page is loaded in
a blink? So it's not at all that they don't CARE..... they don't KNOW.

I often feel like I walk onto another planet when I talk to my friends out
there who aren't into developing the Web like we are. When I ask them which
browser they use, they commonly respond, "Earthlink" or "AT&T." It takes a
bit of an explanation to help them see that Earthlink or AT&T are their
providers, NOT their browsers, and that they're really one and the same.

So there are quite a few levels of awareness out there.

Warmly,
Shirley

--
Shirley E. Kaiser, M.A.,  SKDesigns  mailto:skaiser1 at skdesigns.com
Website Design, Development      http://www.skdesigns.com/
WebsiteTips: Design Resources  http://www.websitetips.com/
Brainstorms and Raves  http://www.brainstormsandraves.com/




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