Internet Explorer/IQ Story Was Bogus

BBC News:

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.

This story seemed fishy to me all along. But I’d wager that if someone did a proper study on this, that IE users would tend to have lower average IQs than users of other browsers. It’s just the nature of IE being the most-used browser, and the default on lower-priced and older PCs.

Update: To be clear, I’d expect the average IQ of IE users to be right around the average for the population as a whole, and that the average for other browsers to be slightly higher. What made this purported study seem so fishy is that results were so profound. They had IE users pegged as being borderline retarded.

★ Wednesday, 3 August 2011