⚡ 150: How web bloat affects slow devices

        24 April 2024

⚡ 150: How web bloat affects slow devices

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[issue ]()150

#### Editor’s note

The first article in today’s issue covers a web performance angle I’ve been thinking and sharing about for a while. Speed is far from being single dimensional. Just because 4G, 5G, and fibre speeds exist, it doesn’t mean web performance has been solved (not mentioning that the definitions of those speeds themselves can be vastly different).

Slow devices are incredibly common, and while a good network can help download assets faster, it doesn’t address processing ever-growing JavaScript bundles. Quickly, the web becomes unusable if you don’t own a $2000+ device released within the last year. Are we going to accept gatekeeping essential services on the web, as well as the wealth of information it has to offer, based on socioeconomic factors and disposable income?

Karolina

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# Articles

### [How web bloat impacts users with slow devices](https://danluu.com/slow-device/)

[Dan Luu](https://danluu.com/)

While the internet speeds are scaling up, the market share of high-end devices isn’t following at the same ratio. Here’s why faster connectivity often doesn’t mean a faster user experience.

### [Are web-safe fonts still relevant in 2024?](https://pimpmytype.com/web-safe-fonts/)

[Oliver Schöndorfer](https://pimpmytype.com/)

Remember using web-safe fonts to ensure consistency across different operating systems? Let’s check if this is still a beneficial approach, even more so for performance reasons.

### [What is a good TTFB for ecommerce?](https://www.erwinhofman.com/blog/what-is-a-good-ttfb-for-ecommerce/)

[Erwin Hofman](https://www.erwinhofman.com/)

The choice of ecommerce platform for your store will inevitably have an effect on web performance. Learn how to determine what’s good TTFB when choosing between providers.

### [Understanding Interaction to Next Paint (INP)](https://frontendmasters.com/blog/understanding-inp/)

[Mat Marquis](https://hire.wil.to/)

There are never too many articles about INP. This time, focus goes to understanding what happens on the main thread and how Interaction to Next Paint differs from First Input Delay.

# Tools

### [Uncompressed JavaScript bytes per character](https://javascript-bytes-per-character.glitch.me/)

[Leon Brocard](https://www.astray.com/)

Find out how the ratio of bytes of JavaScript per each text character, based on a WebPageTest result.

# Courses, Talks & Podcasts

### [Cache ruins everything around me](https://syntax.fm/show/753/cache-ruins-everything-around-me)

[Wes Bos](https://wesbos.com/) & [Scott Tolinski](https://tolin.ski/)

Managing caching is a popular web performance strategy. Tune in for a discussion about invalidation issues, partial caching, flash of unstyled content headaches, and more.

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