Ever wonder how much of your web audience uses dial-up? Want to know what it feels like to use an old 56k modem again? Scarey huh?
I’ve been reading lately about how webmasters have forgotten that there are still people using dial-up and that we proceed to create sites that are slow for dial-up users. This, of course made me curious.
It would be nice to say; “Put a crow-bar in your wallet and spend a little more for broadband”. But, realistically, broadband’s not available everywhere. So, I thought I’d test how miserable it really is. Try yourself; Here’s a site that emulates a 56k modem -http://www.optiview.com/POV/task,ov4modemdemo/parse.html.
Very few of the sites I have responsibility for (120+), regardless of design, loads in under 45 seconds via 56k modem. A quick run through my GA stats suggests 10 percent or less access via dial-up.
Yes, dial-up is really as slow as I remember! Ouch!!
From a webmaster’s perspective, with stats that low, it’s a minor issue that barely merits concern. Unless modems make a come-back, I’m not going to concern myself with “the dial-up experience” any longer.
As far as I am concerned: People using dail-up need to stop belly-aching about slow sites, purchase another pack of patience, or stop surfing the web!
Orlando Ex. Arpt, FL