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Here is the context:
The network has geographically distributed upload endpoints, featuring end-to-end encryption as well as patent-pending routing and optimization technology, letting Box process uploads at a speed up to 10 times faster than currently possible.
"From an end user perspective, this is moving the needle," said Jeff Queisser, vice president of technical operations at Box.
I believe this is a reference to the old analog Vu meter used in audio recording. Vu stood for Volume Units. When recording, some audio sources were not even loud enough to make the needle move off the bottom- in other words it was too faint to be of much use to record.
So saying that something is moving the needle means that it is enough to register or make a difference to the user- enough for the user to take note of
Make a significant difference. This would be referring to the needle of a measurement instrument; moving the needle would be really showing up on the measurement scale.
I understand the context of the phrase "moving the needle" as a expression of metrics, particularly econometrics.
As a phrase, it can be used to simply express that measurable statistics will change as a result of actions.
I've been involved in social entrepreneurship, and when I talk about them, I often say my projects "truly move the needle".
