A New Study Suggests Internet Explorer is for Dummies

By Douglas Perry
published

There is a lot you browser says about your IQ, according to a new study that links browsers to the intelligence of their users.

It appears that, on average, Opera users are near-geniuses, while IE tends to be used by users that have average intelligence at best.

AptiQuant said that it surveyed 101,326 individuals who were given online IQ tests. Surprisingly, the scores of the users appeared to directly relate to the browser they used. According to the results, intelligent users appear to have shifted away from IE6 and IE7 over the past five years and while we can guess that users with lower IQ levels are less likely to switch or upgrade web browsers, it is interesting to see that IE8 and IE9 users have a lower average IQ than IE6 and IE7 users had five years ago.

All other browsers apparently attract more intelligent users: Firefox is at 109, Chrome at 112, and Safari at 113. IE with Chrome Frame breaks through the 120 mark (123), Camino users score 126 and Opera users 128. AptiQuant said that only browsers with more than 500 users were considered for the overall result. So, are IE users, in general, dumb? It is nearly impossible to draw such a conclusion as the circumstances of the test are unknown.

However, the difference between Opera users and IE6 users is quite stunning and cannot be explained with a rounding error. While IE9 appears to have still a low score (which does not paint a great picture for Windows 7 users either), IE6 and IE7 are the problem areas for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which may hint to more problems for Microsoft to find enough and the right incentives for those users to upgrade their browsers.

Douglas Perry
83 Comments Comment from the forums
  • whysobluepandabear
    Um, yeah. I wasn't being judgmental just because I felt like being a prick. It was/is because it's a true stereotype.
    Reply
  • techguy378
    There's a new study that says if you don't rely on Google for everything (email, browser, docs, etc) then you have a very, very low IQ.
    Reply
  • clonazepam
    Firefox is at 109

    This can't be right. Those chrome users never tried streaming content from xfinity tv, as its a complete fail.
    Reply
  • whysobluepandabear
    I also don't know if the Safari statistic is accurate. Maybe book smart, but they obviously weren't smart enough to know that they were getting ripped off by buying Apple.


    I guess you could argue they did it for social status reasons - maybe they like sitting at a coffee shop with their Macbook? Look sophisticated, and hopefully pick up some equally retarded woman.
    Reply
  • whysobluepandabear
    techguy378There's a new study that says if you don't rely on Google for everything (email, browser, docs, etc) then you have a very, very low IQ.It makes more sense then if you were to reply on Outlook, IE and MSword.

    If I had to place a bet on someone who used ALL Google vs ALL MS, I'd bet on the Google person being more intelligent. It shows me they were smart enough to branch out and discover for themselves - vs being an idiot that doesn't know other software even exists.
    Reply
  • yyk71200
    Well, I have an explanation. Less smart people are less likely to know about IE alternatives, or think it is too complicated to change a browser, or think that new browsers are difficult to figure out. Of course, some people chose IE because they like it, so they are not that dumb. However, if one is still stuck in IE6, well... it is no wonder they are rated the lowest (unless some of them have no other choice so this may not apply to 100% of them, but to majority it does).

    With so many browsers being more known and available, this pattern may become even stronger later.
    Reply
  • Haserath
    It makes sense that the lower your "intelligence level" from education or just being smart would make you switch less often to something different. You go with a brand you trust while people with higher IQ's(who generally are probably more curious about learning anyway) learn about others and test them out themselves.
    IQ is all about education and the smarts you were born with, but many people could be genius status with a little work on their part.
    I've tried them all, and I liked Chrome the best so I'd probably raise the IQ on that graph. :p Might as well believe in yourself, right?
    Reply
  • _Pez_
    This "study" is already stupid and funny :D ja ja ja !!!
    Reply
  • zak_mckraken
    It all makes sense now. I work for the government of Quebec and they still haven't move from IE6. Luckily for me, I have Firefox Portable so I can keep a IQ of 109 (which is a bit lower than my IQ at home... for some reason).
    Reply
  • Haserath
    whysobluepandabearI also don't know if the Safari statistic is accurate. Maybe book smart, but they obviously weren't smart enough to know that they were getting ripped off by buying Apple. I guess you could argue they did it for social status reasons - maybe they like sitting at a coffee shop with their Macbook? Look sophisticated, and hopefully pick up some equally retarded woman.Perhaps they are smart enough to have a high paying job that gives them the money to buy what they want?
    Do not deny that Macs are high quality...They have better battery life than most other laptops, a better case made out of aluminum, and a better designed laptop IMO.
    I built a comparable laptop at Dell compared to a Mac, and I would've paid $300 more for a slightly better graphics card and maybe some more connectivity.
    Reply