diff --git a/System/IO/Strict.hs b/System/IO/Strict.hs
--- a/System/IO/Strict.hs
+++ b/System/IO/Strict.hs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 --  * 'isEOFError' if the end of file has been reached.
 
 hGetContents    :: IO.Handle -> IO.IO String
-hGetContents h  = IO.hGetContents h >>= \s -> last s `seq` return s
+hGetContents h  = IO.hGetContents h >>= \s -> length s `seq` return s
 
 -- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Standard IO
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 
 -- | The 'readFile' function reads a file and
 -- returns the contents of the file as a string.
--- The file is read lazily, on demand, as with 'getContents'.
+-- The file is read strictly, as with 'getContents'.
 
 readFile        :: FilePath -> IO String
 readFile name   =  IO.openFile name IO.ReadMode >>= hGetContents
diff --git a/strict.cabal b/strict.cabal
--- a/strict.cabal
+++ b/strict.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:           strict
-Version:        0.3
+Version:        0.3.1
 Synopsis:       Strict data types and String IO.
 Category:       Data, System
 Description:
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 Copyright:      (c) 2006-2007 by Roman Leshchinskiy
 Homepage:       http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~rl/code/strict.html
 Cabal-Version: >= 1.2
+Build-type:     Simple
 
 flag split-base
 
@@ -27,5 +28,5 @@
         Data.Strict.Either
         Data.Strict
         System.IO.Strict
-  ghc-options:    -Wall -Werror -O2
+  ghc-options:    -Wall
   extensions:     CPP
diff --git a/tests/files.hs b/tests/files.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/files.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import qualified Prelude as Lazy (readFile)
+import Prelude (putStrLn, putChar)
+import System.IO.Strict
+import Control.Monad
+
+main = do
+    let n = [0..99999]
+    putStrLn "Strict IO"
+    mapM_ strict n
+    putChar '\n'
+
+    putStrLn "Lazy IO"
+    mapM_ lazy   n -- should fail
+    putChar '\n'
+
+ where
+    strict i = do      readFile "files.hs"; putChar '!'
+    lazy   i = do Lazy.readFile "files.hs"; putChar '~'
diff --git a/tests/speed.hs b/tests/speed.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/speed.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+
+import Text.Printf
+import Control.Exception
+import System.CPUTime
+
+import qualified Data.ByteString as S
+
+import Prelude hiding (readFile)
+import qualified Prelude as Lazy (readFile)
+import System.IO.Strict
+import Control.Monad
+
+time :: IO t -> IO t
+time a = do
+    start <- getCPUTime
+    v <- a
+    v `seq` return ()
+    end   <- getCPUTime
+    let diff = (fromIntegral (end - start)) / (10^12)
+    printf "Computation time: %0.3f sec\n" (diff :: Double)
+    return v
+
+main = do
+    let n = [0..500]
+    putStrLn "Strict IO"
+    time $ mapM_ strict n
+    putChar '\n'
+
+    putStrLn "Strict ByteString IO"
+    time $ mapM_ bytestring n
+    putChar '\n'
+
+ where
+    strict       i = do   readFile "/usr/share/dict/words"; putChar '!'
+    bytestring   i = do S.readFile "/usr/share/dict/words"; putChar '~'