Internet Explorer users have lower IQ says study

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'Internet Explorer users have a lower than average IQ, according to research by Consulting firm AptiQuant. The study gave web surfers an IQ test, then plotted their scores against the browser they used. IE surfers were found to have an average IQ lower than people using Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Users of Camino and Opera rated highest.'

A consulting firm? Hmmmm..... Still, it might be true.

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

I suppose this is because for Windows computers (which are used by most standard users) the default browser is Internet Explorer. So anyone who could click a button and type in an address (or even just click the links on the MSN home page) could use the IE browser.

To even know about the other browsers (generally, from reading about them online or from networking with knowledgeable acquaintances) and then to install them, one would have to have more literacy and logic skills, relative to a user who just used what was handy.

(Personally, I don't get why anyone would voluntarily stick with IE once they were aware of /had the knowledge to install the other browsers.)

I think current pre-installed versions of Windows still have a browser choice screen containing all the popular ones - none is installed as default until the user selects one, and then it's installed automatically.
At least that was the case in Europe as a result of Microsoft losing a large court case about their anti-competitive behaviour - again.

wow, a direct correlation to which browsers are most easily accessable

I recall reading about anti-trust legislation discussion about whether or not Windows should be limited in bundling IE with their software, but am a bit fuzzy on the details. I know that the computers at my workplace (which are Dell) always have IE included (and I have seen at least IE on just about every other Windows computer I have ever used).
Wikipedia indicates (would have posted link here, but am restricted from doing so) that in the US Microsoft was not restricted from bundling in IE, but instead had to release the code to other developers. From the following wiki article (again could not post link, sorry) it looks like the selection screen you mention is just a EU concession. Probably (extrapolating widely) in the rest of the world, IE is the default.

Yep, I think that's the case.
Unfortunately.

This is nonsense.

ruveyn

^^ Of course. Mildly amusing, though.

Quelle surprise!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430

Haha!

Makes you laugh how the BBC try to blame the mistake on every other media organization. When they got it wrong too. You could see it was rubbish from the start lol.

Yeah - I liked "It later emerged that the company's website was only recently set up (...)", which is BS for "It was a quiet news day and we accidentally found this one too, just like the original story".

Lmao!

Here's a more detailed follow-up on the story: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ ... onomyId=17

Yay, Firefox!

(Rev. 5.0.1, and it has its own built-in spelling checker, too!)

"People will fall for anything that serves to validate their prejudice" said one post comment on this. And he's right.

I don't think people here 'fell' for anything. Having seen the key words 'consulting firm' in the BBC piece, anyone with sense would have taken it - even if it was not a complete fabrication - with a large pinch of salt. Unless you live in a country where those who work for consultancy firms are regarded as anything other than charlatans.

Anyone who willingly uses, 'thinking outside the box', 'going forward', 'de-layering', 'adhocracy' or 'tangentery' should be burned at the stake, in my opinion.