Do you feel like you have to be just a huge honking moron to use Internet Explorer instead of a superior browser like Safari, Chrome or Firefox? That might not just be hyperbole: a new study has found that the IQ of people using IE is lower than the average of those using competing browsers.
Vancouver based consulting company Aptiquant recently did an experiment in which they offered free online IQ tests to over 100,000 people, then plotted the average IQ score based on the browser each participant used while taking the test.
The results?
With just a look at the graphs in the report, it comes out pretty clear that Internet Explorer users scored lower than average on the IQ tests. Chrome, Firefox and Safari users had just a teeny bit higher than average IQ scores. And users of Camino, Opera and IE with Chrome Frame had exceptionally higher IQ levels.
Okay, the merit of IQ tests are extremely debatable, it’s true, and as Aptiquant’s own breathless post on the matter makes clear, they have an axe to grind with Internet Explorer. Even so, it’s not too surprising to me that users with higher IQs tend to migrate to more standards-compliant and less mainstream browsers.
Anyway, next time you say someone who uses Internet Explorer is a total idiot, you may very well be factually right.
[via The Loop]
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
69 responses to “IQ Tests Say Internet Explorer Users Are Stupider Than Safari Users [Report]”
Makes sense since I use Opera. I mean, I USED Opera on linux. Its 4 pixel scrolling on the Mac (with the latest nightly build) is better than before but it’s still awful.
for windows users Chrome is the best browser has been invented. but for Mac might be this not the case.
Well, Windows is currently the #1 desktop OS for consumers, IE is shipped with Windows; there are a lot of not-very-smart Americans out there; many, many people do not even know there is a such thing as another web browser (I know this because I work over the phone technical support to 43/50 U.S states, the majority of them use Windows, and usually the default IE on their system (ie6 on xp) is still their default browser), so yeah, I can see why the IQ of these IE people is a little less than everyone else’s.
Who uses IE anyway? It’s a horrible browser. I’m glad that it died on the Mac 9 years ago. Safari, Chrome, and FireFox are far superior in every way. If certain lazy web developers would just stop developing their sites around IE compatibility, all would be well.
And how about the users of Midori, Konqueror, Lynx, W3M, etc…? We must be much higher on the IQ scale. So high we are off your little chart. ;-)
I’m a Safari user and my IQ is apparently so low that I thought that Internet Explorer no longer existed.. until today that is.
I can see as there might be some truth to this, which I would largely attribute to IE being the default browser on quite a considerable number of PCs. Many users who are not as PC literate, be this due to lesser intelligence or simply not having an interest in learning (or other factors) may not have the confidence and/or the knowledge to go looking for alternatives. Some, in my experience, seem barely or even unaware of what a web browser is. So there may very well be some correlation between the tendency to go looking for third party browsers and higher intelligence, which certainly is one factor in PC literacy.
On the flip side, at least some use of alternatives seems to be as a result of either a knee jerk reaction to claimed flaws in IE (even if the user does not understand the risks), as well as accidental installation. Like how Safari tries to install along with iTunes and when it wants to download updates.
John. I am sad to say I lost a lot of respect for you today. I have read this blog for years and I have never seen a more distasteful story. What are you trying to imply? Are you an elitist?
I am sorry but this is a reach for content that is distasteful and certainly requires you to clarify where you are coming from. I am saddened to think that this blog will support these kind of attitudes. Maybe you should start promoting the use of computing as a way to educate those who may have not had the same experiences and upbringing as yourself. Iq is closely linked to one’s socioeconomic upbringing and I am saddened to think that this blog would represent the elite nature of what you are implying in your story.
Maybe there is more to that study.
Way to read the first 2 paragraphs, before you go on a rant next time though, read the last one. This is the part where he discredits the study and says it is pretty much junk
Questioning people’s intelligence is a topic John Brownlee really shouldnt enter into … His body of work speaks volumes about his lack of it.
my bad. I owe an apology. Sorry John
I’m a HUGE fanboy but the only really legit reason, at least in that past, to NOT use IE was that Microsoft was notorious for not being standards compliant with the W3C rules. Although an up to date version for Mac would be nice for the old-school sites that only run on IE.
-Chris
http://friendsofmac.net
DUH! Them still using IE shows how stupid they are ;)
Are you an IE user? lol
Oh dear god, I see we’re well into the Silly Season already.
I would have expected that, but it doesn’t necessarily mean what the article implies.
Most people don’t know what a browser is (they just click on “the internet”) let alone how to switch to a different one. This means that only computer savvy people have a choice of browsers.
To be computer savvy, you presumably need a certain level of intelligence.
So, everyone who switches browsers is automatically in that “somewhat smarter” group.
There could be lots more “smart” people in the IE camp, but since most “dumb” people are in the IE camp too, the percentage is skewed.
I agree with Karassa.. My acquaintances who use IE tend to be older, late adopters, and they tend to view Macs as something for elites. They look at computers interchangeably, so can’t see the point in spending more money for a Mac, even though I can show them the added cost of a Mac is negligible when amortized over a three-year lifespan. They are incapable of understanding that a Mac will give them a smoother, less complicated experience and that might be worth something. My PC friends are constantly asking me for assistance with crashes, viruses and such, and I simply tell them, “Gee, I’m not as smart as you. I paid more money for a Mac. I have no experience with your kind of problems.”
I don’t know about the study, but Alfred E. Newman never looked better.
I found this new apple blog and it great!
http://applefanboynews.com/
I found this new apple blog and it great!
http://applefanboynews.com/
So if I avoid using IE. My IQ will go up. I use Firefox, Chrome and Safari and only IE when I am forced to by Microsoft Management software that won’t run on anything else. I feel my IQ rising right now.
That MAD image is disturbing. I love it. Where was it from?
Firstly, I do believe IE is the most commonly used browser, so of course there are going to be some people with a lower IQ. Secondly, it is shipped with Windows, the most used OS. And thirdly, practically all schools use IE as their main browser, so there’s bound to be people having lower IQs there. Stupid article.
ROFLOL – but we already knew this without having to take a survey!
I call BS on this IQ test. I only have to come to COM and read Brownlees hack journalism to find proof there’s Safari users out there who are complete morons.
The ironic thing about this whole thing is, Apple is “dumbing-down” their OSes more so than any other company out there.
http://tinyurl.com/23963mg
Am I the only one here freaked out by the lifelike Alfred E. Newman?
“Stupider” is not a word… the correct terminology is “more stupid”… and Yes I am a Safari user…
LOL wasn’t always a word either, and “Yes”, I am a Safari, Firefox and Chrome user.
about his lack of it.
How the heck did people who use IE with Chrome Frame get into the “exceptionally higher IQ levels”?
I just paid $22.87 for an iPad2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic Lumix GF 1 Camera that we got for $38.76 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 40 inch LED TV to my boss for $675 which only cost me $62.81 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CoolCent. com
IQ tests are pretty much wrong in general. We learned about it in my statistics class. :)
IE and Safari are the same idiot browser. I get Firefox and chrome but safari users should be the same IQ if not a worse one. Apple is making people idiots. Go Microsoft!
Really? Sorry to break it to ya smarty but Safari is the same dumb browser as IE. Try Firefox. You know apple is making people stupider right?