IE Users Aren’t So Dumb After All

Allison Howen — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:00:00 GMT

The “study” that claimed Internet Explorer users are not as intelligent as other browser users seems to have been a hoax.

The company that supposedly performed the study, AptiQuant most likely isn’t even real.

This conclusion came after the discovery that AptiQuant’s website hasn’t even been around for a month and is very similar to Central Test, a French psychometric testing company. The staff pictures on both sites are even the same, just with different names.

Central Test has released a statement saying they are aware of AptiQuant’s fraudulent activity and reserve the right to take legal action.

The hoax managed to fool many news organizations— including us, the BBC and CNN.

While the unknowns behind the scam are still at large, at least Internet Explorer users can hold their heads high again.

How Smart Does Your Browser Say You Are?

Allison Howen — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT

Hopefully, you aren’t using Internet Explorer while reading this. If you are, it may be time for a change.

A new study from AptiQuant, a psychometric consulting company, suggests that users of Internet Explorer aren’t as intelligent as their peers that use other browsers. The study offered free online IQ tests to over 100,000 people and plotted the average IQ scores based on the browsers with which the tests were taken.

Internet Explorer users’ IQ scores were below the average while Chrome, Firefox and Safari scored a little better than average. Camino, Opera and IE with Chrome Frame had the highest IQ levels.

The study appears to indicate what many Web professionals already think – Internet Explorer is a pain to work with. For years, IE’s reputation with IT companies has been tagged with a lack of innovation and the most current Web standards, especially with older IE versions— which makes developers’ and designers' jobs all the more difficult.

It’s just one study, but with the increasing emphasis on website speed and usability, online businesses and professionals may want to rethink how much time they put into supporting older browsers.

'Net Features : AptiQuant

IE Users Aren’t So Dumb After All

How Smart Does Your Browser Say You Are?