I agree that tournaments should not be arbitrarily shortened.  I have no particular problem with tournaments that last years; I have gotten myself into tourneys with 7 day timing and regretted it, that's for sure.  There are some players on this site who will always use every available minute, that's the main reason these things are as drawn out as they are.  The only way to avoid it (if you want to) is to play tournaments with short timing and relatively few points per match; it helps if you know who the sluggards are and can avoid playing with them.