Suppose that Slowness of Internet Is a Turtle

All of us must be aware of this situation.

We click on some website and expect that it would open in a few seconds.

But it goes on and on and on.

We keep waiting and waiting, watching the loading bar.

No result!

We try refreshing the page.

But it doesn’t happen.

Now we get confused whether the internet connection is totally off or something wrong with the website.

But what if the slowness of internet was not an issue of any sort?

Suppose that it was a turtle.

Meet Your Internet Turtle

Imagine a turtle crawling out of its shell when you access any site on the internet.

You type in the URL and hit Enter.

The turtle looks at your order, takes heart, and starts moving forward.

1. One step.
2. Two steps.
3. Three steps.

As the loading symbol rotates on your computer monitor,

You begin to get worried about why nothing happens.

But not the turtle.

It knows exactly what is happening.

It is trying its best.

The thing is that it was never made for speed.

By the time the turtle reaches the web page, you might already have looked at your phone a few times, looked at the clock, and considered calling it quits.

Meet Your Internet Turtle

Think of this: every time you open a webpage, there is a turtle that emerges from its small shell to assist you in accessing this webpage.

You input a web address in your browser and click on the Enter button.

The turtle considers your request and starts moving in the right direction.

It takes one step, and then another step.

There is an eternal loading icon on your screen as you ask yourself what is going on.

But your internet turtle knows exactly what is going on as it does its best to assist you in reaching your requested webpage. The problem is that turtles are not very fast animals.

When You Need It Right Now!

Slow internet speeds become a problem if you are in a hurry.

It could be that you have a class starting in five minutes.

You click on the link to enter the class.

And the turtle moves again.

You wait and then the page begins to load.

After more waiting, the class loads and you see that the teacher has begun discussing the first topic.

You join the class quietly, hoping that no one would notice.

Or you may be trying to download a file.

The file tells you:

"You still need 2 minutes."

Great.

You wait for a minute and then it shows:

"You need 7 minutes."

Then you might even wish to pick up the turtle yourself.

However, this is not possible with the internet.

Watching a Video Would Be an Exercise in Patience

Watch a video through slow internet speed? No way!

You hit the play button.

The video loads.

You are shown its initial three seconds.

And that’s where it halts.

Buffering.

You have to wait.

The video resumes playing.

Again, just a few seconds.

Buffering.

Now, you start watching the buffering rather than the video itself.

The internet could be described as a turtle here.

The turtle is bringing the video to you in bits.

Indeed, you can imagine how the video comes to your computer in bits.

"Here you are."

The video is gone bringing the next bit.

Online Games Will Cause Troubles

The gamers will certainly be the one to be most affected by our slow internet.

Picture yourself playing an important game online.

You are doing well until all of a sudden...

lag.

You can not move anymore.

Your team members depend on you and your movements in the game.

Yet, you are nowhere near where you should be when the game catches up with you.

They ask what happened to you but there is no answer because the turtle is having difficulty sending the rest of the information.

It arrives at its destination.

However, it is too late as you have already lost the game.

Video Calls Would Be Even Funnier

In the case of video calls, you need a stable connection, and the chances are high that the turtle would not be able to provide that.

You: "Hello."

Friend: "Hello."

Then you see the face of your friend freeze.

His/her mouth was open during the sentence, and he/she suddenly froze at this point.

Then you wait.

After about 5 seconds, the video starts moving again and he/she is talking about something else.

You: "What?"

Friend: "Can you hear me?"

You: "I can't hear you, you're frozen!"

And poof! He/She disappears!

And then poof! He/She reappears...

Now you can hear him/her, but the video is frozen...

In other words, you're communicating with two screenshots of each other...

While the turtle is working in the background...

Simple Websites Would Take Eons

All websites do not need to be elaborate.

At times, it just takes verification of something.

You may be required to check some numbers.

Or you may be curious about the timings of a shop.

Or even the need to know some information.

It must not take more than one minute.

However, on the slow internet connection, even the simple website becomes a nightmare.

1. The logo appears.
2. Then the menu pops up.
3. Then an image.
4. Yet another image.
5. In the end, the text will load.

When everything is loaded, you do not remember what you logged in for.

And you close the browser.

The turtle makes its entry at just the right time.

Downloading Is Like Watching Grass Grow

To download a file with a slow internet connection will surely require plenty of patience.

Click on Download.

The progress bar appears.

1%.

2%.

And then nothing.

Wait…

Nothing.

Now you are busy with something else.

Come back after ten minutes.

4%.

It’s now that you realize that the download process requires time.

The tortoise is not in a hurry.

There’s no point in being so.

The tortoise is just slowly downloading the file with pauses after a few minutes to enjoy the view.

You are thinking meanwhile if you will manage to download anything today or even next week.

The Loading Icon Will Be Your Best Buddy

With the high-speed Internet connection, you do not even notice loading screens.

With the low-speed Internet connection, you get to know them very well.

A rotating icon becomes part of your routine.

You begin noticing it everywhere.

1. Website loading.
2. Video loading.
3. Picture loading.
4. App loading.
5. Loading of search results.

In some way, you find yourself distinguishing between various loading icons.

You are very sure about what will happen when you see a small circle again next time.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

The turtle moves on.

What If the Internet Turtle Was Tired?

Here came more problems for us.

What if the internet turtle was tired?

Maybe, it took a short break for some rest.

Internet slowed down.

After that, it got hungry.

Internet slowed down.

After that, it found itself on some grass where to have some rest.

Internet stopped completely.

You turned off the router.

And the turtle woke up.

Internet check.

It worked.

For about thirty seconds.

After that, the turtle got interested in something.

And you had to start waiting again.

In fact, the turtle surely needed a personal trainer.

Restating the Router Is the Same as Pushing the Turtle

Each time there is an outage on the internet, most people tend to restating the router.

In our hypothetical story, restating the router is equal to nudging the turtle.

"Just one more time. Let's give it a shot."

The turtle stared at you.

You have restated the router.

And the turtle began to move once again.

Everything looked good for about five minutes.

And then the turtle slowed down.

Now, at least you understand why the internet was not working.

Because the turtle had simply become bored with the run.

If There Are Lots More People Online Also

Things get even messier when there are lots more people using the same connection.

1. One person is watching a movie.
2. Another person is downloading a big file.
3. Another person is playing a video game.
4. Another person is surfing through social media.
5. While you are in an online meeting.

The poor turtle wouldn't even know how to begin.

It will be receiving all those packets at once.

1. One packet for the movie.
2. One packet for the game.
3. One packet for the call.
4. One packet for the social media.

At the end, the turtle would probably just sit down and say:

"One at a time please."

But no one would listen.

The Turtle Would Be More Persistent

Our internet turtle would be persistent because of its slowness.

It would never quit.

1. The turtle may be slow.
2. The turtle can be tired.
3. The turtle may just be hungry.

But it will make it to the end.

This could be the most relateable part of the entire idea.

Slowing internet can be very frustrating, but at the end of the day, the page will load.

The video will play.

The file will download.

The message will send.

All that is required is a little more patience than expected.

How It Really Feels to Have Slow Internet Connection

It goes without saying that the internet connection is far from being as slow as the turtle delivers your information.

What happens in reality is that in order to deliver this information there are a lot of factors involved.

These include networks, servers, routers, data centers and various other gadgets.

There might be various factors causing slow internet connection – network overload, weak Wi-Fi, distance from the router or even issues on the side of the service provider.

However, with the picture of the turtle in mind it gets very easy to understand how it feels.

Conclusion

Slow Internet connection would create a perfect turtle.

One would no longer get irritated by its loading screen.

Everything would be clear to one.

The turtle would take all the websites, movies, games, and emails one step at a time.

Meanwhile, cheetahs of the Internet would zoom miles ahead and reach their destination already enjoying whatever website, movie, downloaded file, or whatever else long before one reaches it.

But eventually one will get there.

Not immediately.

Late, yet not late enough to make one suspect anything has gone wrong.

Therefore, the next time when one gets irritated by a terribly slow loading screen of even a plain old website, maybe it will be useful to remember that somewhere behind this loading screen a very tired little turtle is trying its hardest.

Wait a minute.

Or two.

Just do not try to let the turtle watch a 4K video.