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Go dark for IE - October 26, 2012

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wraith808:
Imagine my horror in 2008 when I woke up to find that my main PC had died a horrible death, leaving me with nothing to use but something built in 1997, something incapable of running the latest and greatest. Imagine my horror when I discovered that one of the sites I used for email locked me out because I was using IE6. Imagine my horror when switching to the latest version of K-Meleon didn't help me gain access to my email. Imagine my horror when I couldn't just run out and buy another computer. Imagine my horror when I had to use that old computer for almost a year.

I hate browser bigots. I hate when people propose punishing those that are less fortunate than themselves for their misfortunes.

I kind of put it right up there with the idea of beating up a one-legged man till he "upgrades" and grows another leg.

I don't care what you do, black out sites, cut off users, bomb them with popups and other notices, if they can't upgrade their browser, they can't upgrade their browser. If they can't upgrade their hardware, they can't upgrade their hardware. Nothing you do, short of buying them a new computer is going to change that.

I think a much better proposal, if you hate older versions of IE that much, would be to stick a form in the faces of users of outdated versions of IE that if they fill it out with their shipping info, you will send them a brand new computer. That would go much farther towards eradicating old versions of IE than just being mean to people who might not have a choice.

And why the hell does everyone choose to do these kinds of organized bigoted acts whenever I find myself forced to use an older computer? Anyone that doesn't like the fact I am currently not running the latest and greatest can fix that by going here and putting their money where their hatred is.
-app103 (August 18, 2012, 08:05 PM)
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daddydave:
I think the only people who are using old versions of IE as their main browser are the ones being forced to by the fat, lethargic, too-big-to-manage companies they work for. After the Go Dark campaign, those companies will continue to be fat, lethargic, and too big to manage.

This post will be deleted in 24 hours.

SeraphimLabs:
I think the only people who are using old versions of IE as their main browser are the ones being forced to by the fat, lethargic, too-big-to-manage companies they work for. After the Go Dark campaign, those companies will continue to be fat, lethargic, and too big to manage.

This post will be deleted in 24 hours.
-daddydave (August 19, 2012, 07:40 AM)
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Although this may be true that some companies still use XP with stock IE as their primary browsing arrangement, most companies that I've encountered at least attempt to keep up with current technology. After all, although the 2012 model shiny computer might do exactly the same thing as the 2002 shiny computer and only do half as good a job of it, you can't deny the fact that the 2012 model is 4x faster than what it is replacing.

But I know a LOT of people who flat out cannot afford to upgrade their old XP based systems. And where I live, there are people who honest to god ARE STILL USING DIALUP

Stuff like this is just taking all those people- those who cannot afford to upgrade or don't have access to anything more modern, and shutting them off of the internet purely for the convenience of developers not supporting older software anymore.

40hz:
People generally use whatever works for them. Punishing them is not an effective way to encourage  them to change. If websites just stop jumping through all those hoops they allegedly do to support older browsers, people will eventually migrate over to what works. That's how it's always worked in the past. Those people who are unwilling (or can't for technical reasons) upgrade will become a new market and income opportunity for those sites that do continue to support their browser versions.

Web developers and hosts need to get over themselves a little. This isn't the 90s any more. The web's era of the child-king webmaster and the techno-elite is largely over. The Internet has already become a commodity. And it will soon become just another public utility - no different than electricity, water, and sewage treatment. Time to get with the new reality folks!

Openness and 'come as you are' has always been the rule of the web. How is this "go dark" initiative any different from the thinking of certain governments when they propose to establish an official web access client? And are these people who propose the web "go dark" the same people protesting closed ecosystems whenever Apple and Microsoft attempt to play that game? Or who rebel against any attempt to dictate to them how they operate their websites?

If so, it's a sad state of affairs.

I can see a time in the not too distant future when I put an old school Fido BBS system on a Raspberry Pi and walk away from all this browser nonsense once and for all. And after talking to a few other folks, I now know I'm not the only one thinking about doing it.
 :-\

TaoPhoenix:
I'll add a wrinkle from another direction: At the very bottom of the page is:

"Go Dark For IE © 2012"

So despite claiming to be "inspired by go dark to stop SOPA", they *copyrighted* their page! Not even Creative Commons!

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