Stressed by slow computers? You have 'hourglass syndrome'

A survey commissioned by Intel shows that 66 per cent of computer users are at least somewhat stressed by slowpoke technology and 23 per cent described themselves as very or extremely stressed.

“We found that 41 per cent of adults said they are waiting for the computer to catch up with them and they are stressing out while waiting,” said Agnes Kwan, of Intel which develops processor technology.

Kwan added that the so-called Hourglass Syndrome is a collective term for the frustration that stressed computer users are facing as they watch the little hourglass spin while waiting for the program to open or a website to load.

“In an extreme case, four per cent of users said they had to wait one to three hours for the computer to catch up with them. During that wait it would create stress for them if they have limited time to do the task,” she added.

With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, as well as video and music websites, consumers are using computers for many more applications than they did just a few years ago. Some aging computers cannot keep pace as quickly as their owners would like, leading to stress and frustration.

The findings are based on a Harris poll for Intel of 2,315 people in the United States. The average computer user spends about 13 minutes per day waiting for their technology to catch up to them, which equates to up to three days a year just waiting.