AMZN and GOOG have proven that pageload speed does in fact
directly relate to profitability.
Let's not forget that's the client side speed not a server side. The difference is important: the time to generate html on the server may be just 10-20 percents of total load time.
On the other side, client-side optimization does help your servers: imagine if you cut from 60HTTP requests to just 6—and did that with proper caching policy, so your servers won't be hammered on subsequent page loads just to answer "304 Not Modified".
Ever since I got interested in client-side optimization (a bit over two years now) I am amazed how neglected this aspect is. I may be biased, of course.
On the other side, client-side optimization does help your servers: imagine if you cut from 60HTTP requests to just 6—and did that with proper caching policy, so your servers won't be hammered on subsequent page loads just to answer "304 Not Modified".
Ever since I got interested in client-side optimization (a bit over two years now) I am amazed how neglected this aspect is. I may be biased, of course.