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New tax for using Internet Explorer 7

by David Keith
6 replies
I just saw this article today that talks about one online retailer actually charging a 6.8% additional tax or fee to online shoppers who use ie 7.

here is the link.
News Headlines

I don't think this will really have a big affect since ie 7 is used by so few right now, but I wonder if this idea might catch on to attempt to spread the adoption of future technologies spread much faster.

I just found it to be a fairly new and innovative way to push people to adopt a given technology. Not sure if I like it or hate yet.

any thoughts.
#explorer #internet #tax
  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Branson
    Well as you know all the big companies want you to buy their latest product, even if you don't need it.
    About what you wrote this company need to adjust their company website to work on so many browsers so they can reach all the clients even those who uses Opera

    so they need to hire more people to do this job, so why not charge the customer?
    Today Google analytic can show you how many people using each browser.

    So i guess that if they can see a small group of people surfing to their website with this specific browser (IE7) and to adjust it to their website it cost them more money why not charge the customer?
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  • Profile picture of the author PR Wizard
    Originally Posted by David Keith View Post

    I just saw this article today that talks about one online retailer actually charging a 6.8% additional tax or fee to online shoppers who use ie 7.

    here is the link.
    News Headlines

    I don't think this will really have a big affect since ie 7 is used by so few right now, but I wonder if this idea might catch on to attempt to spread the adoption of future technologies spread much faster.

    I just found it to be a fairly new and innovative way to push people to adopt a given technology. Not sure if I like it or hate yet.

    any thoughts.
    It is an interesting way to push new technologies but I wonder what the rate of shopping cart abandonment is on that site now? I personally haven't used internet explorer in years but I don't really like a site dictating to me what browser I have to use, especially if I am spending $$ on their site. If I were shopping on a site and they required a tax for using firefox you can bet I wouldn't purchase anything from them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sillysoft
      And that is the problem with computer users today. I get users saying, "Dont tell me what browser I can or cant use". You have to understand some browsers can harm your computer and your missing out on some great new features in the newer browsers, I still have to support IE6 for a few apps because people refuse to upgrade even though MS discontinued support. Oh and IE7 is a pain to support too, actually IE is a pain altogether. You get all the browsers working, then comes IE and messes everything up. Oh well.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Keith
    I thought about this some today. Honestly, I kinda like the idea. It uses normal market pressures to push for faster adoption of newer / better browsers.

    My concern is really about the slippery slope it could create. What if a powerhouse company decided to do a deal with one of the major browser companies? or maybe an amazon or PP doing a deal with the 3 main browsers and all other browser users have to pay a tax?

    I guess the government would step in a some point for better or worse.

    I just thought it was interesting to see how the free market was creating a workable solution.
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  • Profile picture of the author funkynassau
    I use Safari on my Mac and if I encountered such a situation I would not buy anything from that company. My husband has my old PC with XP Pro on it and he uses FireFox and Opera which all suit his needs. He'd be right PO'd if someone tried to charge him tax because of his browser.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    It might affect large corporations who still use Microsoft XP and Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Certain programs that work in IE 6 dont work in IE 7. I imagine that the same will be true also if clients in a large corporation have to switch to IE 8 or 9.
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