shelleycat - 11:58 pm on Dec 2, 2002 (gmt 0)

Again, if you can render content first while other items are loading in the background, you are that much further ahead.

I agree with this. I have a slow connection but I know it's slow. So I'm used to the idea that stuff won't appear instantly. But at the same time I don't want to sit looking at a blank page so having something appear pretty fast is important. Having text appear first is a good way to do this.

I've even been known to sit waiting for a flash animation as long as I've chosen to do so (ie it's not an intro page forced apon me with no text link) and as long as there's something to tell me it's loading and how long it will take. Then I know something is happening and I can look at another window or something while it loads.

But then if it's a site I want to read and itneract with a lot (like this one) then I don't want to be waiting for ages for each page to download. Content is the most important thing here and I'm not prepared to wait while the page sorts itself out before I can begin reading.

So I don't think there are hard and fast rules exactly, it varies depending on the site. But it's certainly something that needs to be considered.