[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14389430[/URL]
[QUOTE][B]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.[/B]
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.
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.
[/QUOTE]
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Facepunch, we just got trolled!
Still low IQ
IE users are still dumb.
Watch them do it for real and get similar results.
Opera master race!
Of course it was a hoax.
Firefox wasn't on top.
[QUOTE=J!NX;31506380]Opera master race![/QUOTE]
As a result of this news story, Opera users can no longer claim to be smarter than Chrome or Firefox users.
Hahaha...
I had a feeling it wasn't true... :v:
It wasn't even a valid study in the first place, even if it wasn't fake
The only thing good about the study was that people might have switched from IE
[editline]3rd August 2011[/editline]
Oh and over-inflating Opera users' egos
[QUOTE=Greenen72;31506514]It wasn't even a valid study in the first place, even if it wasn't fake
The only thing good about the study was that people might have switched from IE
[editline]3rd August 2011[/editline]
Oh and over-inflating Opera users' egos[/QUOTE]
like our egos needed inflating
(says the guy posting on firefox - though I typically use opera)
The story may have been a hoax, but it's still true.
[editline]3rd August 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=GamerKiwi;31506355]IE users are still dumb.[/QUOTE]You're using IE.
What's that mean?
I knew it was bogus after it said opera users had much higher IQs.
I bet hipsters did this!
[QUOTE=Tucks;31509144]I knew it was bogus after it said opera users had much higher IQs.
I bet hipsters did this![/QUOTE]
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36759995/FP/hipsteropera.jpg[/img]
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("I'd tell you why this post is bannable - but you wouldn't understand" - Starpluck))[/highlight]
Stop with browser fight already, this shit isn't funny anymore.
[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;31506488]Hahaha...
I had a feeling it wasn't true... :v:[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Tucks;31509144]I knew it was bogus after it said opera users had much higher IQs.
I bet hipsters did this![/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=-Xemit-;31509216]Told you it was bullshit.[/QUOTE]
Here come the next 3 pages of people screaming "Yeah totally called it"
You're all liars and you know it.
Yeah totally called it.
[editline]3rd August 2011[/editline]
But wait, I didn't! I knew this from the start. IE users are dumber because they don't want change. They don't want better. They want same old stuff.
the IE hatred is pretty dumb now considering how good of a browser IE9 is
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;31506389]Of course it was a hoax.
Firefox wasn't on top.[/QUOTE]
Well think of it this way
A lot of people these days know about Firefox. Not just the technologically elite. So it doesn't take a genius to switch to it anymore.
Google Chrome, Opera, etcetera aren't as well known (especially Opera).
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;31510237]Well think of it this way
A lot of people these days know about Firefox. Not just the technologically elite. So it doesn't take a genius to switch to it anymore.
Google Chrome, Opera, etcetera aren't as well known (especially Opera).[/QUOTE]
Chrome is for fancy and intellectual people
Oh man is it really that easy to trick news agencies now?
Does it really matter what browser you use? They share a lot of the same features.
[QUOTE=Sanius;31510094]the IE hatred is pretty dumb now considering how good of a browser IE9 is[/QUOTE]
I hate IE9. Why for one does it take 2 versions to get up to date?
[QUOTE=-Chief-;31510495]Does it really matter what browser you use? They share a lot of the same features.[/QUOTE]No they don't. Not even close.
I'm still happy relatives switched to Opera.
chrome > all
/thread.
They should do this with PC and Mac users.
[QUOTE=Numidium;31511066]They should do this with PC and Mac users.[/QUOTE]
Mac users are generally much dumber since they have everythign laid out. They assume that they get no viruses for example and do nothing to prevent them. Windows users on the other hand are aware of viruses and stay prepared. If it wasn't for IE, Windows/Linux masterrace
I admire the trolling.
I'm not trolling, I'm serious. I also said generally, so only about 90% of mac users exhibit this "condition"
[QUOTE=Map in a box;31511101]Mac users are generally much dumber since they have everythign laid out. They assume that they get no viruses for example and do nothing to prevent them.[/QUOTE]
that's like saying all facebook users are retards because you saw a screenshot of a user posting something stupid
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