Online Retailer Imposes First Ever Web Browser Tax

[Epona]

It's always a good idea to piss your customers off rather than just dropping support for IE7. Instead of a "we're gonna charge you extra" page, how about a blank page with an explanation and links to new browsers? I guess that wouldn't be edgy and cool though would it?

Oh well, I don't really care.

 

[Something Amyss]

What's the old saying.. "Cut off the nose to spite the face"? Looks like a 6.8% nose chopper to me.

Depends on how much money they're losing due to having to code for what should be considered an obsolete browser. Extra man-hours do really add up, you know.

 

[Starke]

Let's hear Fox News spin this!

"Retailer taxes innocent consumers for using their internet browser!"

 

[Charli]

Hehe, I hope this doesn't catch on in other less hilarious ways but I did get a kick out of this one. Telling people to learn how to upgrade your browser or face a consequence isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have so many exasperating experiences with technophobes who refuse to learn something just because 'they can have me come in and do it for them'. There's no fallout to having to learn what things on your computer do.

Y'know except when people start hacking and exploiting your life through your computer and you haven't the foggiest idea why.
IE7 is obsolete. That means it has been picked to death. That means it has holes. Holes that someone with the right website with the right malicious intent can go full force on you.

So yeah, I'm okay with this. Just DO NOT bring current browsers into this trend (Oh we see you're using IE/Firefox/Chrome/Opera/ETC fuck you!) that's grade A douchebaggery. This... is just kinda snarky 'come on dude get with it' Grade C- douchebaggery.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

Instead of a "we're gonna charge you extra" page, how about a blank page with an explanation and links to new browsers? I guess that wouldn't be edgy and cool though would it?

It almost certainly wouldn't elicit news posts on this website or others either.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

This is the first tax I've ever liked. I hope it catches on

 

[Bertinan]

This is a terrible idea. Now companies are going to see this, see that people are actually willing to pay the tax, and say "Well, if they'll pay it then, we can carry out our own on-line tax! And we can tax ALL the browsers!"

Death of internet shopping, here we come.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

HAhahahaha! Oh that made my day. It gives me hope that one day, we'll have a tax for stupidity.

 

[saintdane05]

Is IE 10 any good? It looks a hell of a lot more streamlined than other browsers.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I wrote code that redirected you to the mozilla firefox page if you were on IE. Good times

 

[Imat]

I sincerely hope this doesn't catch on. "Use the software we tell you to use, or we'll charge you for it!"? Terrible idea. Next games will have no previous-gen OS support. Once a new version of Windows comes out, all games will require a payment to continue playing the game on the now "outdated" OS. We all know that is what companies will be thinking as they read this. Upgrading, or even paying, to appease this company is a landslide that can only end in disaster for the consumer.

Telling companies that this behavior is "OK" can really only end in disaster, way I see it.

 

[chadachada123]

I am actually of the opinion that this may not be such a good idea. Many poeple, and I am not naming names, I know have older machines that will not upgrade past IE8. If they decide to push their usage tax to this version as well it could actually end up hurting the retailer in the long run. True,consumers can avoid this by switching browsers, but a good portion of them may choose an even simpler route of not shopping with Kogan. Thus they would loose not only the fee but a sale as well.

What's the old saying.. "Cut off the nose to spite the face"? Looks like a 6.8% nose chopper to me.

To compensate, though, this retailer just made a TON of publicity and may just get one of my purchases. I sure as hell have never heard of them before today, but they have my support.

 

[Nimbus]

This should be for all IE versions. IE9, and only IE9, is installed on all my campus computers. I can say, totally sincerely, that I would rather chop of a finger than use it as my main browser.

 

[ritchards]

I would upgrade IE7, but my computer refuses to install the later versions properly.

That said, I use Firefox anyway. (I would use Chrome, but until they get DownThemAll to work on it, I'm not interested...)

 

[Epona]

I sincerely hope this doesn't catch on. "Use the software we tell you to use, or we'll charge you for it!"? Terrible idea. Next games will have no previous-gen OS support. Once a new version of Windows comes out, all games will require a payment to continue playing the game on the now "outdated" OS. We all know that is what companies will be thinking as they read this. Upgrading, or even paying, to appease this company is a landslide that can only end in disaster for the consumer.

Telling companies that this behavior is "OK" can really only end in disaster, way I see it.

I can see Microsoft paying sites to charge people a tax if they aren't using the newest version of IE. Maybe Google would do the same thing. Celebrating stupid shit like this will only serve to shoot us in the foot.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I know that Internet explorer is a piece of crap, and I can understand charging customers more for fixing that terrible browser, but should they call this a "Tax?"

This isn't issued by the government or any bill, this is just a business charging a percentage based fee.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I have no idea if this is legal, or if it will ultimately be a good or bad move for Kogan, but this doesn't change the fact that I think this is both hilarious and ingenious. More power to them, as long as their underlying good intentions remain so - that is, charging on the basis that it's an unnecessary strain on their servers. Unfortunately, I can easily see other retailers trying to charge users for using specific browsers at their own discretion, or at least until that's ruled unlawful.

exactly this.

i can't help but laugh, and if it wasn't for me, i'm sure my grandparents would be running ie 5 probably with 9 toolbars up top...just...

it's very frustrating, and i'm actually kinda happy someone is giving them a kick in the ass to get with the 21st century.

 

[Woodsey]

Nevermind charging them - they should be shot on sight.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Let's hear Fox News spin this!

Since you asked so nicely, here you go:

"Online retailer imposes 6.8% surcharge on people using outdated software in an effort to cut costs of maintaining support for legacy systems"

You're welcome.

 

[AMMO Kid]

In other news, no logical or sane person uses internet explorer these days.