Study: IE Users Are ... Dumb?

So before we get too far into this one, I'd just like to point out for the record that I, uh, use the Chrome web browser more than other browsers. Just saying.

But seriously, folks.

AptiQuant, a "Psychometric Consulting company" (whatever that means) from Vancouver, has released a study--and it has, really, it's even in a PDF file you can read and everything--claiming that users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser are, well, dumber than users of other web browsers. OK, maybe "dumber" is a bit unkind. They have lower IQs.

"There was a clear indication from the date [sic] that the subjects using any version of Internet Explorer ranked significantly lower on an average than others," the report reads. "No significant difference in the IQ scores of subjects using Chrome, Firefox and Safari was noticed, however these subjects had, on an average, a higher IQ score than the IE users. Individuals using Opera, Camino and IE with Chrome Frame scored a little higher on an average than others."

It goes further. Looking at the results of a similar study from 2006 and comparing the changes, the study concludes that more people with higher IQs have moved away from Internet Explorer in the last five years. Also, people with lower IQs tend to resist a change/upgrade of their browsers.

Well, there you go. :)

Discuss this Article 5

Joe05
on Jul 29, 2011
Stupid, or you know, this little survey is designed to appeal to our vanity, kind of like if you use a Mac you're way cooler than that Windows using goober we all know. Utter BS.
incubusjax
on Jul 29, 2011
I get the correlation, but I think they are reading into it the wrong way. What I mean is people with higher IQ probably understand things like security concepts and computers overall in a better way. Lower IQs probably have never even thought that you could use a different browser. So the researchers are trying to say "dumb people choose IE" but what they are really saying is they leave the default - they don't even *know* to choose. That being said I am using Chrome, but on Win7 I *love* IE9 - really I do. I use it for everything but Banking, and that's really only because I like to use Click and Clean after each of those browsing sessions. Don't forget that XP SP 2 turned the windows firewall ON by default - because your average user didn't know how or why they needed a firewall. Same argument IMO.
ckeledjian
on Jul 30, 2011
I find it hard to believe that a study about 'smart' and 'dumb' could be so dumb itself in not realizing the obvious that IE is the default browser in Windows machines and only smarter people would venture intro trying other browsers, especially most obscure ones like Opera. If the study had went a bit futher and actually gotten the version of IE, they would have realized that 'dumb' people used the older, default versions of IE, while those using IE9 or IE10 beta would be amongst the smartest.
Waethorn
on Jul 30, 2011
Newsflash: "People that peel a banana are more likely to eat it."
Waethorn
on Jul 30, 2011

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