Languish.org

General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 03:35:51 AM

Title: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 03:35:51 AM
QuoteInternet Explorer users have lower IQ says study

Internet Explorer users have a lower than average IQ, according to research by Consulting firm AptiQuant.

The study gave web surfers an IQ test, then plotted their scores against the browser they used.

IE surfers were found to have an average IQ lower than people using Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Users of Camino and Opera rated highest.

The report has sparked anger from IE supporters, who have threatened AptiQuant with legal action.

Researchers gave over 100,000 web surfers a free online IQ test. Scores were stored in a database along with each person's web browser data.

The results suggested that Internet Explorer surfers had an average IQ in the low eighties. Chrome, Firefox and Safari rated over 100, while minority browsers Opera and Camino had an "exceptionally higher" score of over 120.

AptiQuant stressed that using IE doesn't mean you have low intelligence. "What it really says is that if you have a low IQ then there are high chances that you use Internet Explorer," said AptiQuant CEO Leonard Howard.

The findings have been treated with scepticism by Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University's Statistical Laboratory: "They've got IE6 users with an IQ of around eighty. That's borderline deficient, marginally able to cope with the adult world.

"I believe these figures are implausibly low - and an insult to IE users."

However, Mr Howard said he didn't feel threatened by a lawsuit: "A win in a court would only give a stamp of approval and more credibility to our report."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14370878 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14370878)
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 03:48:20 AM
 :lmfao:

Funny.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Zanza on August 03, 2011, 04:06:19 AM
... or your company forces you to use Internet Explorer.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Warspite on August 03, 2011, 04:31:42 AM
Report finds that news agency wholesale use of press releases increases markedly during August.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 05:04:52 AM
Quote from: Warspite on August 03, 2011, 04:31:42 AM
Report finds that news agency wholesale use of press releases increases markedly during August.
:lol:  Yeah, and this is the BBC to boot.  Verdict:  Bullshit
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 06:00:26 AM
Quote from: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 05:04:52 AM
Quote from: Warspite on August 03, 2011, 04:31:42 AM
Report finds that news agency wholesale use of press releases increases markedly during August.
:lol:  Yeah, and this is the BBC to boot.  Verdict:  Bullshit

Oh, yeah total Bullshit.  I never found Opera to be that good.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 06:01:03 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 06:00:26 AM
Quote from: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 05:04:52 AM
Quote from: Warspite on August 03, 2011, 04:31:42 AM
Report finds that news agency wholesale use of press releases increases markedly during August.
:lol:  Yeah, and this is the BBC to boot.  Verdict:  Bullshit

Oh, yeah total Bullshit.  I never found Opera to be that good.

I take it you're both IE users, huh?  :hmm:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 06:10:29 AM
I expect they'd find most internet users over 60 use IE too, because that's what comes on the damn PC.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Duque de Bragança on August 03, 2011, 06:14:38 AM
According to the BBC, again:

Quote
Internet Explorer story was bogus

The story claimed that users of internet explorer had a lower IQ than those who opted for other browsers

A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ that 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.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 06:17:10 AM
 :lol: Just as well I never report anything completely unchecked :unsure:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: CountDeMoney on August 03, 2011, 06:18:24 AM
Quote from: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 06:17:10 AM
:lol: Just as well I never report anything completely unchecked :unsure:

You obviously don't read The Off-Topic Topic either, since this story's been posted before, probably by Timmay.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 07:12:24 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 06:01:03 AM


I take it you're both IE users, huh?  :hmm:

I use Firefox.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 07:28:06 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 06:01:03 AM
I take it you're both IE users, huh?  :hmm:
You take it wrong, as usual.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Martinus on August 03, 2011, 08:07:40 AM
Can't be right. My boyfriend uses Opera.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:12:56 AM
The one with AIDS?
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Martinus on August 03, 2011, 08:13:47 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:12:56 AM
The one with AIDS?

Hum no.  :huh:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:38:08 AM
What happened to the AIDS guy?
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: HisMajestyBOB on August 03, 2011, 10:47:18 AM
Quote from: Zanza on August 03, 2011, 04:06:19 AM
... or your company forces you to use Internet Explorer.

My school in Korea had IE6 as the default browser until they updated to IE8 in 2010. I used Mozilla. -_-

Worse, most Korean websites were designed to be compatible only with IE6 and used lots of ActiveX controls. No wonder South Korea has one of the highest computer infection rate in the world.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 10:48:39 AM
Quote from: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 07:28:06 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 06:01:03 AM
I take it you're both IE users, huh?  :hmm:
You take it wrong, as usual.

:lol:

Don't worry, grumbler. There's nothing wrong with using IE. The study was a hoax.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 10:55:19 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 10:48:39 AM
Don't worry, grumbler. There's nothing wrong with using IE. The study was a hoax.
:console:  I'll take your word for it that there's nothing wrong with using IE.  I'll bet your little heart jumped for joy when I noted in the fifth post on this thread that the study was bullshit, after you bought into it in the second post.

I would note that the study's hoax nature doesn't mean that you and/or the other IE users don't have a lower IQ, so don't get carried away with delusions of adequacy.  It just means that this study is bogus.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 11:04:04 AM
Quote from: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 10:55:19 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 10:48:39 AM
Don't worry, grumbler. There's nothing wrong with using IE. The study was a hoax.
:console:  I'll take your word for it that there's nothing wrong with using IE.  I'll bet your little heart jumped for joy when I noted in the fifth post on this thread that the study was bullshit, after you bought into it in the second post.

I would note that the study's hoax nature doesn't mean that you and/or the other IE users don't have a lower IQ, so don't get carried away with delusions of adequacy.  It just means that this study is bogus.

You can spin it however you wish, grumpy. You needed the story to be a hoax. But your secret is safe with me.

And the rest of Languish.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 11:10:40 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 11:04:04 AM
You needed noted the story to be a hoax.

QuoteBut your secret is safe with me.

And the rest of Languish.
It was hardly a secret.  I noted it in the fifth post in this thread.  Spin it how you will, I saw the hoax immediately and called it.  :smarty:

You didn't. :contract:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 11:14:10 AM
Quote from: grumbler on August 03, 2011, 11:10:40 AM
Quote from: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 11:04:04 AM
You needed noted the story to be a hoax.

QuoteBut your secret is safe with me.

And the rest of Languish.
It was hardly a secret.  I noted it in the fifth post in this thread.  Spin it how you will, I saw the hoax immediately and called it.  :smarty:

You didn't. :contract:

Actually, I only remarked that it was funny. I never made any comment on the veracity of it.
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: CountDeMoney on August 04, 2011, 05:21:38 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:38:08 AM
What happened to the AIDS guy?

*crickets*
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Martinus on August 04, 2011, 06:16:24 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 04, 2011, 05:21:38 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:38:08 AM
What happened to the AIDS guy?

*crickets*
:lol:
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: BuddhaRhubarb on August 04, 2011, 01:04:12 PM
they say it's a hoax... but if someone told me they use IE as their main browser, my first thought would be "moron." Maybe I'm raciss?
Title: Re: IE users "have lower IQ"
Post by: Scipio on August 05, 2011, 05:21:51 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 04, 2011, 05:21:38 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on August 03, 2011, 08:38:08 AM
What happened to the AIDS guy?

*crickets*
Wait, AIDS gives you rickets?