Messages app is slow

I'm using a 16GB iPhone 3G. The messages app works pretty slowly. Even after deleting all SMS messages, it takes 2 seconds for messages app to load. It's much slower after I have several texts saved in the phone. I don't remember it being so slow when I first got my phone. I suspect the 3.0 update is responsible. Have other users noticed a performance degrade with messages or is it just me?