An Eye Blink Is Just Too Long to Wait : Impatient Internet Users

Remember when you were willing to wait a few seconds for a computer to respond to a click on a Web site or a tap on a keyboard? These days, even 400 milli seconds, literally the blink of an eye- is too long, as Google engineers have discovered.

That barely perceptible delay causes people to search less.

Mr. Arvind Jain, Google engineer said, “Subconsciously, you don’t like to wait”

Every milli second matters..!

Google and other technology companies are on a new quest for speed, challenging the likes of Jain to make fast go faster. The reason is that data hungry smartphones & tablets are creating frustrating digital traffic jams, as people download maps, video clips of sports highlights, news updates or recommendations for nearby restaurants. The competition to be the quickest is fierce.

People will visit a Web site less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds (a millisecond is a thousandth of a second).

Mr. Harry Shum, Computer scientist said, '' 250 milliseconds, either slower or faster, is close to the magic number now for competitive advantage on the Web”

The performance of  Web sites varies, and so do user expectations. A person will be more patient waiting for a video clip to load than for a search result. And Web sites constantly face trade offs between visual richness and snappy response times.

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