Computers are perceptually slower because we've replaced CPU/memory slowness with remote latency. Every click, often every keypress (for autocomplete), sometime

Computers are perceptually slower because we've replaced CPU/memory slowness with remote latency. Every click, often every keypress (for autocomplete), sometimes even every mouse hover, generates requests to who knows how many services in how many different places around the world. No wonder it's slow. Speed of light. I see this even using my development tools at work, where actions I didn't really want or ask for are being taken "on my behalf" and slowing me down. I notice because I'm on a VPN from home. The developers don't notice - and don't care - because they're sitting right on a very high-speed network in the office. It's the modern equivalent of developers using much faster machines and much bigger monitors than most users are likely to have. Just as they need to think about users on tiny phone screens and virtual keyboards, developers need to think about users with poor network connectivity (or just low patience for frills and fluff).