Another observation that went missing from the discussions around this problem is that it pans out differently (worse) for people in North America than it does

Another observation that went missing from the discussions around this problem is that it pans out differently (worse) for people in North America than it does for European users. Apple's various CDNs are far from equally encumbered. Reports from North American users held numbers well beyond those reported by European users. For me here in Sweden the problem was at its peak no more than a lesser annoyance. Not once did I observe anything near the dredging 5-30 second delays that North American users reported, and the recurring 2-3 seconds long system freezes never manifested for me at all.