I didn't see this amended here, so I though I'd add to the conversation.
Click for the full story:
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=79577
Are Opera Users Smarter than Internet Explorer Users?
By Mark Long
July 29, 2011 1:51PM
Not so, according to this August 3 Update: Reports have been circulating about an AptiQuant study suggesting
transward (imported) wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:54 pm
a correlation between a web surfer's browser selection and his or her
IQ. As it turns out, the whole thing was a hoax. The original July 29th story is shown below, for reference only.
A widely-covered study from AptiQuant [which later proved to be a hoax] suggested
transward (imported) wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:54 pm
there may be a correlation between a web surfer's browser selection and his or her cognitive abilities. The Vancouver-based psychometric consulting firm reportedly based its conclusions on the results of an IQ test it administered online to more than 100,000 English-speaking subjects.
According to the report, individuals on the lower side of the IQ scale tend to resist performing browser upgrades. "The subjects using any version of Internet Explorer ranked significantly lower on an average than others" on the IQ test, the firm's researchers
were quoted as reporting
transward (imported) wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:54 pm
. Out of all the IE versions, however, "subjects using IE8 fared a little better."
About 34 percent of the test subjects with the lowest scores were using IE7, AptiQuant's researchers noted. IE7 usage declined to less than four percent for the group with the highest IQ scores.
Opera Users
Smarter?
AptiQuant reportedly
transward (imported) wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:54 pm
found no statistically significant differences between the IQ scores of subjects using Chrome, Firefox and Safari. On the other hand, these subjects supposedly had a higher IQ score, on average, than IE users. Additionally, the participants with the highest IQ test scores were using Opera, Camino and IE in combination with Chrome Frame.
AptiQuant's researchers reportedly compared their results to another unreleased study of a similar nature undertaken in 2006. "The comparison clearly suggests that more people on the higher side of the IQ scale have moved away from Internet Explorer in the last five years," the report's authors wrote.
Still, AptiQuant's survey didn't account for the fact that many business professionals have no choice when it comes to the browsers they use for business purposes, since IT administrators often make these decisions. "The people who took the test could either be using their home computers or office computers," AptiQuant President Leonard Howard reportedly wrote in an e-mail Friday.
IT Considerations
Part of the resistance to change that AptiQuant's study attributes to the cognitive abilities of its test subjects may be due to the fact that enterprises tend to adopt new technologies at a slower rate than consumers. That's because IT administrators must consider a variety of issues that may be far more important to business goals than innovation .
IT departments are often locked into specific IE versions because of factors such as the operating system in use as well as legacy issues surrounding the performance of business documents, forms and processes that may not function the same if another browser is used. This last issue represents one of the major reasons why many businesses have not adopted the free OpenOffice instead of Microsoft's expensive Office productivity suite.
The continuous use of older versions of IE by millions of people around the world causes major headaches for web developers, which AptiQuant blamed on Microsoft's adoption of technologies in older IE versions that do not comply with web standards. "This trend not only makes their job tougher, but has also pulled back innovation by at least a decade," AptiQuant said.
These days, however, Microsoft recognizes that continuing use of its aging IE6 browser is an impediment to innovation. For this reason, earlier this year Microsoft inaugurated a campaign to encourage users of IE6 to upgrade to a modern browser such as IE8 or even IE9, which features compatibility with web standards such as HTML5.
Global IE6 usage currently stands at 10.7 percent -- down 7.5 percentage points from the same time last year. In the United States, however, IE6 usage currently amounts to just two percent.
Aug. 3 Update: Just a Hoax
As noted above, reports to the media about the AptiQuant study last week were just a hoax. The story was widely reported by major news outlets and tech news sites, as coverage of the imaginary report went viral.
AND
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Click for full story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430
Internet Explorer story was bogus
A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ than people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.
A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant.
It later emerged that the company's website was only recently set up and staff images were copied from a legitimate business in Paris.
It is unclear who was behind the stunt.
The story was reported by many high profile organisations including CNN, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Forbes.
Questions about the authenticity of the story were raised by readers of the BBC website who established that the company which put out the research - ApTiquant - appeared to have only set up its website in the past month.
Thumbnail images of the firm's staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed.
The BBC contacted Central Test who confirmed that they had been made aware of the copy but had no knowledge of ApTiquant or its activities.
Research claims
ApTiquant issued a press release claiming that it had invited 100,000 web users to take IQ tests and matched their results with the type of browser they used.
It also supplied extensive research data.
The results claimed to show that Internet Explorer users were generally of lower intelligence.
The BBC sought alternative views for the original story, including Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University's Statistical Laboratory, who said: "I believe these figures are implausibly low - and an insult to IE users."
No-one on ApTiquant's contact number was available for comment.
Graham Cluley, senior security consultant at Sophos, examined the source material for the BBC after concerns were raised.
"It's obviously very easy to create a bogus site like this - as all phishers know it's easy to rip-off someone else's webpages and pictures," he said.
Mr Cluley also looked at the pdf file containing the data that many people had downloaded from a variety of sources and said it did not appear to contain malware.
