Actually what is happening is a phenomenon going on across the country and something I predicted nearly 10 years ago ... people are starting to read faster!
That's right! The Internet isn't any slower or faster than it has been since 1992 ... it's just that people are reading more and more and a natural out growth of all of that reading is that people are reading faster!
If a picture is downloaded it seems like it takes forever because you have nothing to read while the download occurs.
(Actually I think it has to do with the popularity of the forum. Many users = slower speed.)