Speed is a feature

Their wordsSpeed in software is probably the most valuable, least valued asset. To me, speedy software is the difference between an application smoothly integrating into your life, and one called upon with great reluctance.

Their wordsSpeed and reliability are often intuited hand-in-hand. Speed can be a good proxy for general engineering quality. If an application slows down on simple tasks, then it can mean the engineers aren’t obsessive detail sticklers.

Their wordsWhen forced to wait, life seems unnecessarily complex. Savings in time feel like simplicity. And we are thankfully loyal when it happens, which is rare.

Their wordsThe bandwidth capacity of your users' connections might improve noticeably, as it steadily has, but the latency needle won't move much at all. This means that minimizing the number of roundtrips you make to display information on page is essential to great user experience and responsiveness.

Their wordsFast software is not always good software, but slow software is rarely able to rise to greatness. Fast software gives the user a chance to “meld” with its toolset. That is, not break flow.