Study: Dumb People Use Internet Explorer

[IDemo]

pcmag.com
July 30, 2011 12:32pm EST

Here comes the flame war. According to a new report, dumb people are more likely to use Internet Explorer than smart people. It's a finding so apparently defamatory that the company responsible for the statement is allegedly being threatened with a lawsuit by inflamed Internet Explorer aficionados.

Online psychometric testing company AptiQuant, based out of Canada, turned its analytical skills to a group of more than 100,000 individuals in an effort to determine the IQ scores associated with various Web browser users. Over a period of around four weeks, the company gave a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) to users looking for free online IQ assessment tests, then recorded the results and browsers used for all participants above the age of 16.

Across the board, the average IQ scores presented for users of Internet Explorer versions 6 through 9 were all lower than the IQ scores recorded for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Camino, and Opera users. Humorously enough, those using Internet Explorer with the Chrome frame built-in actually ranked third in IQ scores among this browser list. Opera users reported the highest average IQ score – hovering around the 120 to 130 range, which is a bit higher than the WAIS test's population mean of 100 (and standard deviation of 15).

AptiQuant's report notes that the only statistically significant difference in IQ scores occurred between Internet Explorer uses and their counterparts. There was not a significant difference in IQ scores between non-IE browser users, even though these users, in aggregate, reported a higher average IQ score than IE users.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389463,00.asp

[Rabblevox]

1. Not as true as it used to be. IE has made huge improvements, FF is stuck in a rut, and...

Chrome and Opera still have problems. Personally, I like Chrome right now, but I can no longer mock IE users the way I could 5 yrs ago.

[tridim]

13. Yep. IMO FF is now the dumb people browser.

So much potential, lost.

It is good for debugging code, but it sucks for browsing. Slow as molasses.

[jzodda]

29. FF with ad block and no script is amazing...and fast

no problems here.

I would never use IE9-I find it slower and its the browser that those looking to exploit go after. Chrome is what I have been playing around with of late-Now thats what I call fast.

Firefox also has many many other great addons.

[notadmblnd]

53. that's because it suck up so much memory

I finally became so frustrated with FF that I downloaded their Beta version, it's much better.

[tblue37]

41. I do not understand why anyone on DU would feel the need to mock anyone for using the tools they are

familiar with.

In fact, what weakness in your character makes it so satisfying for you to mock other people who are not doing you any harm? I can see mocking teabaggers, since their stupidity is actively damaging other people, but how does my use of IE harm or inconvenience you in any way? (And if you or the OP want to play dueling IQs, I can pretty much guarantee you will lose before we even begin!)

[Rex]

2. A person would have to be pretty dumb to use IE9.

Or have a lot of patience.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. Maybe they don't know enough to know there are other browsers, search engines, etc. nt

[Beaverhausen]

4. "dumb" means one is unable to speak

fail

[Worried senior]

6. I am dumb

I use IE8.

[WinkyDink]

48. That would be "I ARE dumb."

[IDemo]

7. According to Merriam Webster and popular usage, it also means stupid

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumb

6a : lacking intelligence : stupid
b : showing a lack of intelligence <asking dumb questions>
c : requiring no intelligence <dumb luck>
7: not having the capability to process data <a dumb terminal>

[madrchsod]

5. i`ve never used IE...

it`s been netscape,fox,opera,chrome and safari.....

[hlthe2b]

8. IT staff at a former employer refused to allow for any browser except MIE

Even during that period when MIE was demonstrably a security risk compared to Foxfire and others. They "knew everything of course," became aggressively antagonized with even the slightest questioning. Fortunately most IT folks are better trained and far less arrogant than that, but geebus....:eyes:

[47of74]

21. Maybe the IT staff you were talking to had no choice

If it comes from the top down the IT staff you were talking to maybe had no choice but to support IE. Maybe they would've liked to have ditched IE themselves but couldn't because of policies from the top down that said IE is the company browser and that's all there is to it, and were just tired of being questioned every other day about why people couldn't use FireFox or Chrome.

[hlthe2b]

28. They were the top... for a small government agency...

The woman who headed IT had unilateral decision making authority on everything. She was a control freak who spent her time reading everyone's emails trying to find something to use against them. That is how she got and kept her position, I was told. She got a whole lot of more qualified people fired and was really good at suggesting herself as indispensable to management who were technology averse and just wanted to keep earning big paychecks while traveling to meaningless meetings across the country on the county's dime and never being around.

She would have been the one individual I would not have been surprised to hear someone had gone "postal" towards. It was very dysfunctional place, I'll leave it at that. But, I do chuckle at this little "study," knowing how determined she was that no one ever question her decision to only support MIE.

[47of74]

56. That's different

I thought at first you were talking about IT staff that didn't have any choice but to support what their management says. Since it's the top management that's different, especially in a situation like you describe.

[Lance_Boyle]

74. We are still required to support IE6 (!) at work

because of one legacy web app that will run in no other browser.

Stupidity is not always the reason management makes us do... less than smart things.

[undeterred]

42. Most of the reason I use it at home is because I have to support it

at work. And honestly, its not that bad. Most of the issues people had with it are in past versions.

[hlthe2b]

46. I was referring to the old security hole-ladened versions...

I keep it around for occasional use as well and agree it has gotten better.

[lynne]

9. LOL! So TRUE! Spouse insists on IE, I keep changing him to -

- Chrome, which is what I use. IE moves like MUD.

[jwirr]

26. Now that I agree with - sometimes it takes forever to open because

it is doing some kind of maintenance or something. Still my daughter insists I use it. Also have AOL sticking its nose into everything because I do not want to change my email addy.

[tblue37]

43. Oh, my! Did you just call your spouse stupid? If he is so dumb, why are you still married?

I cannot imagine wanting to spend much time with people who are not intelligent enough for me to find their company intellectually stimulating. Certainly I would never marry someone like that--nor would I want my children to inherit any of their genes!

Are your children as dumb as your spouse? Can you stand talking with them (or him), or do you mostly have to point and grunt when you need to convey something to them?

[L0oniX]

52. Uhm maybe he married her because he is stupid?

[Odin2005]

10. IE = Internet Exploder.

[Ezlivin]

11. If it's IE6 then I agree wholeheartedly

Supporting IE6 is pointless.

IE Death March

[BuelahWitch]

40. I talked to some business people yesterday who were using IE6

They were wondering why they couldn't get an electronic form to load...

[Aerows]

12. Well...it tends to be true

Do they have spell check in IE these days or adblock? Even Opera has adblock now, but I prefer Google Chrome. I also have FF 5.0 installed, but Chrome seems to be more stable for me these days.

[tridim]

14. I have spellcheck and adblock in IE.

There are several options for both.

[Urban Prairie]

15. Firefox has long been my browser of choice b/c I like to mix and match extensions and add-ons

and have been using it ever since it was named Firebird, and along with being able to use multiple profiles and run multiple versions of FF on Linux (yeah, at the same time, too ;-) ) Trouble is that they accelerated development of new versions, which means those who developed extensions for the browser fall behind more quickly. Firefox 5 on Linux means that many add-ons, themes and extensions become incompatible, but many can be made/forced to work (not always well) on beta/development or updated versions of Firefox with the "Addon Compatibility Reporter" extension installed.

Firefox, esp. on Windows has long had issues with memory leaks, causing it to run slower and slower, but there are ways to tweak it so that its building cache can be dumped to regain faster responsiveness.


I have also played around with Chromium (bleeding edge), Chrome (dev/beta/nightly), Opera Tor, Midori, Seamonkey, Iceweasel, Avant, Amaya, Konqueror, rekonq, Orca, Flock(discontinued) and several others, but I always end up using FF most often, and for websites that still render best with IE, there is the IE Tab2 extension that can be installed and used within FF.

[hootinholler]

16. Worse are those who develop sites that will only run properly on IE

As a developer, Micro$oft has been pissing me off since DOS version 2 or so.

-Hoot

[tridim]

18. Ironically, as a coder and developer, FF has been pissing me off since day one.

Funny how that works huh? Browser wars are all about opinion, and are very subjective.

There have been a few versions of FF that worked pretty well, but it's very inconsistent and rare.

[laundry_queen]

17. I use IE 8 because I HAVE to for university

I can't even upgrade because the stupid online homework programs don't support IE 9 yet. Our online blackboard also required IE 8. So I'm stuck. I wonder if they surveyed any college/university students that are required to use IE for online homework and/or online courses. I'm guessing those are decently smart people.

Although I do admit I also use Safari, since #%%*@ IE for some reason had blocked out facebook for me, even after adding it to my safe list. I simply can't sign in to facebook with IE.

BTW, I started out with Netscape (back in the day) then IE and dabbled in chrome and firefox. I find IE just more user friendly, my issues with facebook notwithstanding.

[kestrel91316]

19. Office 2010 64-bit broke my IE, which then decided to make accessing my AOL Mail

impossible. On my BRAND NEW Windows 7 laptop, lol.

The fix: I am now a Google Chrome user both at work and at home. All done. No more problem F--- you, IE!

Oh, and Office 2010 64-bit also broke my Word, so I uninstalled it and went with 32-bit, which fixed THAT problem.

[47of74]

20. At work we just went to IE 8

And that was after being on IE 6 until just recently.

At home we're a Mac shop, so we either use Safari or FireFox for our internet browsing. No IE around here.

[InvisibleTouch]

22. I thought dumb people used AOL. ;)

No offense to anyone who uses it for the sake of expediency ... but back in the day, you could always tell an AOLer, and it wasn't a badge of honor.

[47of74]

25. We started out with AOL

That was back in the day when 56k was considered a high speed modem. Used them for several years before quitting in favor of other companies. We're now with a local company that uses a series of towers that people point antennas towards.

[InvisibleTouch]

30. Is that ClearWire?

If so, how do you like it? I've been considering a switch to them.

[47of74]

57. It's a local company

It's a local company called ComElec Services. Their internet service, which is called You Squared, is based off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Canopy">Motorola Canopy technology. We have an antenna that looks sort of like a satellite dish, except that instead of a satellite it's pointed at an antenna tower a couple miles from where we live.

The service is pretty fast and is much better than the satellite we had beforehand. We live out in the country so neither cable or dsl are an option for us. Before You Squared put up an antenna that we could get a signal from on the farm satellite was it - and both the latency and the bandwidth caps were a pain in the ASS.

[hlthe2b]

65. It has been my experience that most people used AOL only for

a free email address. I still have two in service that I keep--only because they are out there and still the only way some overseas colleagues and friends could readily track me down.... As the years go by it might not be the best reason to keep it, but it is free, after all.

Those that used to pay for the service when dial up was the only alternative, usually used another browser. I know I did. AOL was merely a convenient way to access--when options were limited. Once other options became available, I dumped AOL--with the exception of those free email addresses.


You really ought to get past your AOL assumptions.

[jwirr]

23. I use it because my daughter, a network analyst for a major corporation

insisted. She takes care of my computer so I do what I am told.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. mean thread title

[jberryhill]

27. Kind of a dumb study really

IE is more or less the "default" browser on PC's, so one has to be willing to download and install software to use something else.

[bluestate10]

31. I use IE. I would gladly match IQ with anyone on DU. My life is time sensitive,

I know what I want. When I use a browser, my activity is precise and time efficient. The survey results, it they can be called such, pleases the snob variety of individual, doers know that the survey is a twisted sack of crap.

[tblue37]

45. Hey, bluestate--check out some of my responses on this very obnoxious thread.

You and I are definitely on the same page.

[WinkyDink]

50. Likewise, plus Jeopardy.

[bigwillq]

32. I use a combo of IE and Mozilla.

I guess I am half dumb! :P :rofl:

[tjdee]

33. Believe it--and I use none of those.

I have a slow connection and all but Opera are so slow it brings me to tears. My primary is K-Meleon or one of the dozens of other tinier browsers. When I'm back up to speed I'll be on Chrome (or Iron, since Chrome dials in to the mothership too much for my liking).

The only people who use IE in my experience are people who lack the imagination to seek alternatives.

[tblue37]

38. Please see my post #36 below. I do NOT lack imagination to seek

alternatives. I lack the time, energy, and interest to mess with learning and getting accustomed to new tools when the ones I am already used to do the job I need them to do. Change for shcange's sake is a waste of time, and we older folks lack time more than we lack imagination!

Sheesh! I can't believe I am reading this crap on DU!

[WinkyDink]

49. Really? Because I'm finding the IE haters to be insufferable twits. But that's just "my experience."

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. Their level of computer literacy has no influence on which browser they use... right?

I know PhDs who couldn't turn their computer on before being shown where the I/O switch was. Are they less intelligent than anyone else? Most people bought Windows-based computers. With Windows came IE. Huge numbers of them couldn't find, download, and install a new browser no matter the level of their overall intelligence. But never mind that. If they don't use the browser preferred by the IE (Intellectual Elite), they're less intelligent.

Color me as stupid as a bag of hammers for using IE. My experience with the internet goes back to a 2400 baud modem and Prodigy, but I'm not in the least bit concerned with being part of the "in" crowd. IE has never locked up my computer. IE has never been hard to use or slow.

I'd be willing to bet that if there were a browser named "Rock and Roll", you could find a DU'er willing to talk bad about its fans not using Opera instead.

This study fails.

[Habibi]

59. Right behind you.

I'm fed up with FF, don't like Chrome. Ready to go back to IE. So sue me!

[Shandris]

70. Well...you said it well. At least...one thing.

Huge numbers of them couldn't find, download, and install a new browser no matter the level of their overall intelligence.

Actually, I would classify the inability to type 'Firefox' into the search engine and doubleclick on it a VERY STRONG indicator of lacking intelligence. Anyone can be good at what they do for a living without being smart or knowing too much about it. Witness cable installers who don't know why anything works, technicians who can only troubleshoot based on a list (that's about 98% of Tier 1 Tech Support, by the way), mechanics who can't figure out whats wrong with a car if the plug-in codes don't function right. None of these things are indicators of intelligence. Being unable to do so basic a task as type a few letters and click the button twice? That's a whole other level of dumb. That's up there with people who call locksmiths when the battery on their car door remote goes dead, or (one of my favorites, I actually HAD this call in Tech Support) the person whose keyboard was turned upside down by a coworker while she was at lunch and consequently called me up demanding to know HOW SOMEONE HAD DELETED THE KEYS FROM HER KEYBOARD (!). IT WAS UPSIDE DOWN, FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST!

Ahem. Back on topic. :)

The article doesn't say every IE user is dumb (although I would question anyone who would continue to use a product that has shown OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER again to be more susceptible to attack than any comparable browser EVER MADE), it simply says that it trends that way. And that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

It has nothing to do with the 'Intellectual Elite', it has to do with a degree of common sense based on past performance. If your Samsung tv had a long history of changing channels every time your neighbor hit a remote, would you recommend it to a friend because shopping for a different brand was 'too hard'?

[saras]

35. Probably just an artifact of 'default'

The really dumb, when they have to use computers, probably use IE because it's there and labeled "the internet". To use Firefox, you have to go download it, install it, and massage it for a while until it runs properly (i.e. download all the various plugins in will need). No, it's not a hard job, it's just an extra job that can be avoided entirely.

People with below-average IQ probably don't spend a lot of time contemplating browser feature sets in the first place.

[tblue37]

36. Well, averages are just that. Many of us older folks use

IE not because our IQs are lower, but because we are most familiar with IE, and constant changes can be disorienting.

I don't want to brag, and if you had not raised this issue I would never mention it, but although I use IE, my IQ is significantly higher than the average reported for Opera users (I won't say how high; you probably would not believe it anyway). I have Opera and Firefox on my computer--put there by a young computer whiz friend--but I never use them.

I have often thought that at least one reason we older folks don't like constantly changing our tools is that we have, over the years, accumulated so much "stuff"--not just experience, information, and ideas, but also interconnections, responsibilities, skills, and tasks--that we don't want to spend even a few minutes of our rapidly diminishing lifespans to learn to use new tools when our old ones are still functioning well enough for us to do what we need or want to do.

That's the thing, you know. New tools often require time to master, and many of us don't feel we can spare even a little bit of time unless we really are not getting what we need from our older tools.

[NYC_SKP]

37. I use four different browsers. None are IE. I remove IE from my computers, Adobe Acrobat, too.

I detest them both.

I can use Safari or Preview to read most pdf files.

[tblue37]

44. Well, good for you. Thank goodness you will get to heaven now.

I remember a certain sketch in SNL's recurring "Tech Support" feature:

A regular employee goes down to the basement of some business to get the IT people to help him with a computer porblem. They snicker, sneer and mock him mercilessly, while he fumes helplessly. He can't snark back, because he needs their help, but they are really tearing him a new one for being soooo dumb. (Probably he can't even RTFM!)

Then one of the techies mentions some technical aspect of some super-duper program, and the other techies start tearing him up, mocking him mercilessly--because it is already 11:00 a.m., and he seems not to be aware that a brand new and infinitely superior version of the program had been released at 9:00 that same morning!

Once again, people: Sheeesh!

[undeterred]

39. And all smart people are vegetarians and use Macs and vote Green party

Did I miss anything?

[WinkyDink]

47. "Asinine" is the mildest term I can use. (P.S. Non-IE users here: BFD!)

[L0oniX]

51. The only thing worse is the Nutscrape AOL browser.

[steve2470]

54. Official Microsoft site to stop usage of IE6.....

http://www.ie6countdown.com/

[lumberjack_jeff]

55. Incurious.

They're perfectly satisfied with whatever button HP put on the screen of this computer thingee for reading "entertainment tonight online".

[Odin2005]

63. Incurious and fearful of change.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

58. love google chrome - just because it saves keystrokes...but for

some reason - my work remote won't allow access unless through IE

[BlueJazz]

60. My IQ is so high, I don't even need a browser to surf the web.

[Ezlivin]

61. Storing all those cookies is going to kill you though

And after a few drinks does your browser go into quirks mode?

[BlueJazz]

62. I usually get some milk & eat those cookies...although they taste a little like...

...copper wires for some reason. :)

[Matariki]

64. IE6 users' IQ == 6

[saras]

66. For a completely different result, graph yearly income vs. browser use...

...and we can have a whole new set of flame wars, because THIS study will say that RICH people use IE more...

...with some really strange exceptions.

[LetTimmySmoke]

67. I use firefox. Infer what you will.

[guitar man]

68. Mozilla Firefox runs good for me

On OSX Leopard 10.5.8, don't have any problems with it at all :thumbsup:

[LetTimmySmoke]

69. Okay, the reason that IE-6 correlated with the lowest IQ is because of the lurking variable...

...of poverty.

[Safetykitten]

71. Study brought to by Steve Jobs and McMann and Tate

[LeftyMom]

72. From reading this thread it seems that IE users don't understand how to evaluate evidence.

"I use IE and I am teh smrt" is a single data point (of dubious veracity due to self-evaluation) which in no way contradicts a general trend.

[muriel_volestrangler]

73. Internet Explorer story was bogus

A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ that people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.

A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant.

It later emerged that the company's website was only recently set up and staff images were copied from a legitimate business in Paris.

It is unclear who was behind the stunt.

The story was reported by many high profile organisations including CNN, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Forbes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14370878

I thought the Opera 'average in 120 to 130' statistic looked dodgy at the time, but said nothing. And looking at it again, "there was not a significant difference in IQ scores between non-IE browser users" just cannot fit with that - because an average of 120 to 130 is very high, and would be bound to be significant (and with 100,000 users, the sample size is huge).

We should have picked up on the problems with the claims earlier. But it fits a lot of preconceptions about Microsoft users, doesn't it? So we let it stand. As did the BBC, CNN etc. A lesson for us all.