Study Proves IE Users and People Who Believed Study Are Dumb

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
0
0
Study Proves IE Users and People Who Believed Study Are Dumb



A website set up to show that people who still use Internet Explorer are less intelligent has been revealed as a prank.

This weekend, a few news outlets including the PC World [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430] reported on a website publicizing a random study conducted on the internet. A so-called "psychometric consulting" firm called AptiQuant claimed that it drew people to its website to take an intelligence test while also logging the browser those people used. The collated data suggested that users of the various versions Internet Explorer still used by many to access AOL and Facebook were statistically less intelligent than users of Chrome, Safari and Firefox. Who were the smartest? The people who use the Opera browser.

That is, if the study was at all real or if AptiQuant was a legitimate consulting firm. In fact, the whole website was a hoax meant to point out the inadequacies of Internet Explorer 6.

"This study was a total hoax," read a post on AptiQuant.com. "There is no company called AptiQuant, and no such survey was ever done. We are really surprised that it took so long for people to figure it out, a mere 'whois' on the domain could have revealed it all."

The real question is: why bother creating a fake website just to bite their thumb at the people still using IE 6, 7 and 8? Just for kicks? Well, not exactly.

"The main purpose behind this hoax was to create awareness about the incompatibilities of IE6 and how it is pulling back innovation. So, if you are still using IE6, please update to a newer browser."

The people behind the hoax actually run a comparison shopping website called Atcheap.com [http://www.atcheap.com/] and were disgusted when they tried to make it compatible with older browsers. "We got this idea when adding some features to our comparison shopping website. We found out that IE6 was highly incompatible with web standards. IE 7.0 and 8.0, though better than 6.0 are still incompatible with not only with the standards, but with each other too."

I personally use Chrome, but I don't think that makes me any smarter. Internet Explorer used to be the gold standard, but it was increasingly frustrating to work with so I gave Firefox a shot. I never went back, and when Chrome debuted, the story was the same. I understand that IE has improved since then but I only bother opening it up when a webpage - usually run by Microsoft - won't open anywhere else.

Even Microsoft admits that people should at least upgrade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108242-Microsoft-Wants-to-Kill-Internet-Explorer-6-Too] to a more recent version of Explorer.

Source: AptiQuant [http://www.pcworld.com/article/236944/internet_explorer_users_are_kinda_stupid_study_suggests.html]



Permalink
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
15,489
0
0
So, by playing a prank and trying to make others look stupid, they are - in fact - the dumbest people on the planet because they're just being retarded net trolls.
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
1,554
0
0
FalloutJack said:
So, by playing a prank and trying to make others look stupid, they are - in fact - the dumbest people on the planet because they're just being retarded net trolls.
See, I disagree. I think it is a hilarious prank and only serves to show the general level of perversion journalism has steeped in because nobody bothers checking the story.
 

Eiv

New member
Oct 17, 2008
376
0
0
WanderingFool said:
I lol'ed. But I still prefer IE.
TROLL ALERT! TROLL ALERT!.

I never though I would say this, but I've started using Opera and actually like it >.<
 

Rawne1980

New member
Jul 29, 2011
4,144
0
0
Wonder how many people read that while using IE and switched browsers straight away.
 

gabe12301

New member
Jun 30, 2010
1,371
0
0
Leviano said:
WanderingFool said:
I lol'ed. But I still prefer IE.
TROLL ALERT! TROLL ALERT!.

I never though I would say this, but I've started using Opera and actually like it >.<
ONE OF US.....ONE OF US.....ONE OF US.
 

Canadamus Prime

Robot in Disguise
Jun 17, 2009
14,334
0
0
I think the solution here is to stop making websites that are compatible with older browsers. So when someone visits the site using an older browser, just have a message pop up saying "Please upgrade your browser you moron!"

...

Ok, maybe without the "you moron" part.
 

omega 616

Elite Member
May 1, 2009
5,883
1
43
I use IE, firefox and chrome. What does that make me?

I have two facebook accounts and 3 e mail addresses so I can be logged into all of them at the same time.

I assume that makes me not so smart.
 

Jodah

New member
Aug 2, 2008
2,280
0
0
canadamus_prime said:
I think the solution here is to stop making websites that are compatible with older browsers. So when someone visits the site using an older browser, just have a message pop up saying "Please upgrade your browser you moron!"

...

Ok, maybe without the "you moron" part.
Naa, thats the most important part. If they are stupid enough to take offense they don't belong on the internet!
 

Scytail

New member
Jan 26, 2010
286
0
0
Jodah said:
canadamus_prime said:
I think the solution here is to stop making websites that are compatible with older browsers. So when someone visits the site using an older browser, just have a message pop up saying "Please upgrade your browser you moron!"

...

Ok, maybe without the "you moron" part.
Naa, thats the most important part. If they are stupid enough to take offense they don't belong on the internet!
Yeah, but think of the occasional grandmother who logs on her Win95 with a dial-up modem. They dont diserve to be called morons.
 

Roserari

New member
Jul 11, 2011
227
0
0
IE and Chrome are equally as buggy to me, in my personal experience. Firefox hasn't given me much trouble yet. Or at all, really. But, I'm glad to see that people are indeed encouraging others to upgrade to a better browser, whether or not it is IE or not. I don't understand why people keep using that old junk anyways, unless they still have a computer of that age. That might cause some issues.
 

scar_47

New member
Sep 25, 2010
319
0
0
I still use IE 6 its what the ps3 web browser uses unfortunately, I did use firefox on my laptop before it bit the dust ran fine and I never had any issues with it.