Is there any chance that the confirmation process will pick up in speed here in the future? I think some people are not accepting them because the time it takes to confirm a transaction. I know I do not want to be standing in a store for 20 minutes or longer to wait for a candy bar.
Bitcoin transaction confirmation differs on the extra fees you spend.
The more the fees the less the time to wait for confirmation time.
If you want to get fast confirmation include extra fees and if you donot want to spend extra bits just spend less fees and slower the transaction process if it is not for important things.
Miners wont confirm / include your transaction with a no fees / very low fees because they dont get any much profit. But if some miners take interest your transaction gets confirmed.
So it is a game of fees and miners.
You can today also get confirmation in seconds or 1-5 mins. if you include very high fees.