Image: mr. throk/Flickr (Creative Commons)
Despite being highly reported all over the place, including the BBC and CNN, the study claiming that Internet Explorer users had the lowest IQ out of all browsers has been deemed to be a hoax. Yes, so all you Opera users, turns out you’re not that smart.
Nor were you, Internet Explorer users who happened to use the Google Chrome frame.
Damn it.
According to the BBC, the website of the company – ApTiquant, a Canadian research firm – appeared to have copied text from a website called Central Test. Here’s a snippet of what was copied – from its about page:
AptiQuant’s clients include many international household names such as Aviva, Dell, Deloitte, DHL, GlaxoSmithKline, McDonalds, Monster, Shell, Toshiba, Toyota and Whirlpool. Major financial institutions such as Société Générale, Bank of Montreal and Crédit Agricole are also long-term clients, as are utilities giants, Orange, SFR, Ortel Communications and EDF.
From the education and culture sector, clients include the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; the Université Paris VIII in Saint-Denis, best known for its philosophy and politics faculties; the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, one of France’s most prominent schools of engineering; The École Supérieure de Commerce de Montpellier, one of France’s best-known business schools; The American Business School in Paris; and UK-based Warwick Business School, which is ranked in the top one percent of business schools worldwide.
And here’s the original (changes highlighted in bold):
Central Test’s clients include many international household names such as Aviva, Dell, Deloitte, DHL, GlaxoSmithKline, McDonalds, Monster, Shell, Toshiba, Toyota and Whirlpool. Major financial institutions such as Société Générale, Bank of Montreal and Crédit Agricole are also long-term clients, as are utilities giants, Orange, SFR, Ortel Communications and EDF.
From the education and culture sector, clients include the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; the Université Paris VIII in Saint-Denis, best known for its philosophy and politics faculties; the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, one of France’s most prominent schools of engineering; The École Supérieure de Commerce de Montpellier, one of France’s best-known business schools; The American Business School in Paris; and UK-based Warwick Business School, which is ranked in the top one percent of business schools worldwide.
In addition, the website appears to have been recently bought nearly a month ago, according to the Whois records:
Yes, while it’s fake, I really did want it to be real. I mean, to quote Chris Southcott in his Windows 7 review:
I really don’t understand why anybody would use this crap to do anything other than download a different browser. Seriously, if you’re still using IE, you need to get Firefox or Chrome and see how much better they are.
And if you still think IE is better, I feel sorry for you.