What isn't realtime?

There are a few heartstopping moments when you have to transfer a Very Large Amount of Money. Will the bank deny the transaction? Will I have to remember my mother's cousin's dog's maiden name? Will the money arrive safely?

I clicked the "Transfer Your Life Savings" button on the website. An hourglass appeared. I flipped into the other tab and hit refresh. My balance went from zero to quite-a-bit-more. I flipped back to the first tab. The hourglass faded away and I saw the words "Transfer Succeeded".

For all intents and purposes, money transfer in the UK is free and - just as important - instant. In this case the receiving bank told me the funds were present before the JavaScript on the sending bank had updated.

When I'm due to receive a parcel, most reputable couriers tell me exactly where it is at all times. I can see it transit through customs. I can see it get stuck in Antwerp. I can see it is due to be delivered tomorrow. I can see that it is only 3 stops away. I can see a photo of it hidden in my porch.

I think back to the days when I had to carry a paper cheque between branches to transfer funds - and then wait until my monthly statement to see if they'd been processed. I remember ordering goods from far off lands and never quite knowing when or if they'd arrive.

Nowadays I can play Scrabble against my mother-in-law while she's 18,000Km away - and the moves ping across the æther in an instant.

Most media is released simultaneously around the world - I remember Star Wars being released in the UK months after the US release.

I applied for a new credit card. The ID verification was pretty much instant but the physical card was going to take a few days to arrive. So they let me create a virtual card number which I could use instantly.

What's next?

What is currently slow but should be instant?

Having sold a property recently, there are so many bewildering slow steps that it's hard not to imagine a conspiracy of lawyers keeping things churning along to pad out their fees.

It bemuses me that so many computer games are multi-GB downloads - why don't they stream to start? Wither Stadia!

There are still long lead times on some physical items. For some reason sofas and spare parts for washing machines are all made by hand and travel on the same slow boat.

Education still hasn't reached the "I know Kung-Fu" stage. Sure, we can dial up a YouTube video on any esoteric subject and watch it at double-speed. But we're stuck with pedagogy which hasn't changed in a thousand years. Read, listen, practice, repeat.

Counterpoint

As I've said before, slowness can sometimes be a virtue. Perhaps insurance payouts should wait until an investigation has been completed. And it probably isn't the worst idea in the world to wait between getting a marriage licence and tying the knot.

But the world is getting inexorably faster - even while people continually complain about the pace of change.

Gratification delayed is gratification denied.