Marie's blog: Internet Explorer IQ Story Was a Hoax

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Internet Explorer IQ Story Was a Hoax

Remember that report claiming Internet Explorer users were borderline morons?

Turns out it was a hoax. Shocking, right?

Last week, Canadian consulting firm Aptiquant published the "results" of a survey suggesting that IE users scored lower on IQ tests than those using, say, Firefox. A bunch of publications picked up the story and ran with it, at least until cooler heads began questioning the data. Not to mention whether "Aptiquant" existed at all. Oh, and it turned out that Aptiquant.com ripped off a bunch of stuff from the Web portal for a French company called Central Test.

"Central Test noticed the fraudulent use of its identity by Aptiquant, a Canadian company," reads a note posted on the Central Test Website, "and denies any direct or indirect link with the above-mentioned company."

For their part, the people behind "Aptiquant" were in full retreat. "The main purpose behind this hoax was to create awareness about the incompatibilities of IE6, and not to insult or hurt anyone," claims the notice on its landing page. It also included a helpful list of "tell-tale signs" that the study was a fake.

Meanwhile, Daring Fireball's John Gruber hints that the IE-IQ study, while fake, might not be entirely off-base. "I'd wager that if someone did a proper study on this, that IE users would tend to have a lower average IQ," he wrote. "It's just the nature of IE being the most-used browser, and the default on lower-priced and older PCs."

Um, yeah. Because people who use the default browser on lower-priced and older PCs must be more idiotic than those using Firefox, Chrome or Safari. I'm sure a rigorous scientific analysis would prove that one in a jiffy. Actually, knowing Gruber's work, I'd bet a dollar he thinks Safari users would average the highest on any given IQ test.

The only thing this Aptiquant "study" demonstrated, in the end, is that virtually any bit of data--no matter how unbelievable--is a viable candidate for the blogosphere's great echo chamber. That's why I didn't write about it in the first place.