News

Brits throw fits over slow tech, survey finds

July 14, 2016

Impatience is the word of the day in Britain, at least when it comes to technology.

Crucial surveyed 2,000 Brits and found one in five (21 percent) lose patience with technology once a week, according to a press release. Nearly the same percentage (19 percent) said it happens more frequently — about every few days, while 7 percent reported extreme irritation over slow technology every few hours.

How volatile and how quickly do they become agitated when faced with a technological slowdown? The study found the average Brit loses their temper with tech tools after about a minute spent struggling with a problem. However, the survey found some Brits report losing patience even more quickly, with 32 percent reporting that they lose patience with slow technology after just 30 seconds.

Crucial also found Brits report losing valuable time waiting for their computers to "un-freeze," with 32 percent reporting that they head to the toilet while waiting for the PC to work again. A further 29 percent took the opportunity to make a hot drink. And more than one-fifth don't do anything at all — just space out or stare into space. 

"The time spent waiting on a slow computer is frustrating and it eventually adds up," said Crucial SSD Senior Product Line Manager Jonathan Weech in the release. "Considering that the average Brit not only loses valuable time waiting for their PC to start functioning again, but also ends up being distracted and not returning to their tasks, points to a critical efficiency issue when it comes to finishing jobs."

Among the cited causes of technological temper tantrums, half blamed a "slow" internet, while 47 percent said the cause was a "frozen" computer and 40 percent cited a slow computer. 

Other causes of those slowdowns and "freezes" were mostly attributed to web pages that just stalled their machines (46 percent), while 27 percent said the cause was opening a new program or app, as well as opening files (21 percent), loading videos (17 percent) and saving files (12 percent). Once their computer has recovered, 12 percent said they then no longer remember what they were doing in the first place, while 40 percent postponed what they were doing and 32 percent chose to work on something else.

"Anyone who owns a computer has at some point had to deal with it slowing down. It's a familiar problem, but how do you solve it?" said Senior Product Marketing Manager Jeremy Mortenson. "A simple DRAM or SSD upgrade is the best option to relieve a great deal of your daily tech frustrations and get your PC back up to speed. This, together with additional strategies such as a PC spring clean can help, which involves getting rid of unwanted programs, uninstalling pre-installed unused apps, clearing your browser cache and limiting the amount of applications that run when turning your PC on, will have your PC functioning as good as new."