According to Ruslan Kogan this is the world's first Internet Explorer 7 "tax".
Posted on 06/15/2012 8:11:39 AM PDT by ShadowAce
According to Ruslan Kogan this is the world's first Internet Explorer 7 "tax".
The Australian online retailer Kogan.com has introduced the world's first "tax" on Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) browser.
Customers who use IE7 will have to pay an extra surcharge on online purchases made through the firm's site.
Chief executive Ruslan Kogan told the BBC he wanted to recoup the time and costs involved in "rendering the website into a antique browser".
The charge is set to 6.8% - 0.1% for every month since the IE7 launch.
Every month the surcharge will rise by 0.1%.
According to Mr Kogan the idea was born when the company started working on a site relaunch.
Mr Kogan said that even though only 3% of his customers used the old version of the browser, his IT team had become pre-occupied with making adaptations to make pages display properly on IE 7.
"I was constantly on the line to my web team. The amount of work and effort involved in making our website look normal on IE7 equalled the combined time of designing for Chrome, Safari and Firefox."
Mr Kogan said it was unlikely that anyone would actually pay the charges. His goal is to encourage users to download a more up-to-date version of Internet Explorer or a different browser.
Mr Kogan told the BBC his customers were very happy and he had received a lot of praise for his efforts.
"Love your IE7 tax. I hope it becomes effective" was one of the messages posted to Kogan on Twitter.
IE7 was launched in 2006, but since then Microsoft has released two major updates to the software.
The launch of Internet Explorer 10 is due in the autumn.
Unless his website or offerings are extra special, his customers will just move to competitors rather than paying the surcharge.
If he does not support my browser, I will sue.
I’m OK. I’m using IE5
Or--follow me closely here--they may just perform the free upgrade to a supported browser.
Nothing special on the website....and not a lot of products....
I'm suing you both for making the Internet a worse place than it was yesterday.
Go for the Gold .... backtrack to Netscape!!
Churchill’s prediction is coming true, that “the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.”
It predates Netscape.
I am so cool. I'm using it right now.
In some cases the upgrade of Explorer isn't supported unless you upgrade Windows. For instance Windows XP users cannot upgrade to Explorer 9. At work, I'm stuck with Explorer 8 because my company hasn't upgraded past XP. Probably similar issues for people who haven't upgraded from older versions of Windows.
Then upgrade to a supported browser like Firefox.
Giving Microsoft ideas...NEXT:
The WinXP Tax
Upgrade, damn you peole!
Churchill was talking about First Person Shooter games.
This is more of a stupidity than a “tax”. Many people simply won’t buy from this jackass, which I’m sure will lead him to increase “taxes” even further to cover the lost revenue. And on and on until he’s out of business. Idiot.
If the company was the Aussie equivalent of Amazon.Com, he could probably push people into doing exactly that.
But since he apparently is just one of a zillion websites out there, he probably won't.
Disclosure: My wife sells Avon. Most of the customers she has picked up are little old ladies who like the catalog, the product guidance which she gives by phone and will never order direct via their website. She runs circles around her younger competitors because she understands and offers this service. Plus, little old ladies have an amazing amount of disposable income compared to their younger counterparts. Their average order is around $60 compared to $16 for the younger set.
Just because someone isn't tech savvy doesn't mean they are stupid or don't have money to spend on your business.
I began visiting the internet with the first beta version of Mosaic. I forget the number, but it was something less than one. Mosaic 0.97 Beta, or something like that.
Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced the floppy disk on which I stored it, as well as my last floppy disk drive.
Mr Kogan said it was unlikely that anyone would actually pay the charges. His goal is to encourage users to download a more up-to-date version of Internet Explorer or a different browser.This is less a "tax" than an encouragement to move to something that actually works.
Taxes come from governments not private retailers.
Good point. That’s probably why the word “tax” is in quotes.
Stupid programmers... I would have ordered them to just pop up a message saying YOU NEED A NEWER BROWSER VERSION. Done
Perfect solution. But it wouldn’t have made the news or garnered the publicity. :)
We never go out and buy the latest version of Windows. Microsoft is still working with bugs and patches almost until the next edition is rolled out. We will often even skip an upgrade until an even better version is available. We are still using XP as well and will probably upgrade with Explorer 10 comes out according to our IT guys.
The racket of making you install new software and buy new hardware every couple years is expensive and unnecessary. We run on 4-5 year purchase cycles and it works just fine for us.
Also, some users may be on corporate computers where they don’t have access to install or upgrade software.
They can run their business however they want ... but whenever I hit a website that doesn’t support whatever browser I’m using at the time, I usually don’t return.
I am working on a corporate conversion from XP to Win7. They had to package over 14,000 pieces of software for approved corporate installs on Win7.
What a pinhead move....I’d abandon my cart right there.
“Mr Kogan said it was unlikely that anyone would actually pay the charges.”
Damn right. If I saw that notice, I just wouldn’t shop at his website, so I wouldn’t have to pay any charges.
How about a general Windows [virus magnet] tax and be done with it? /shameless Linux/Apple geek
I use Firefox. No worries!
As a QA guy who hates the monotony of compatibility testing (same test different browser, and again, and again) I am for this.
Or they could click one of the provided links and download Chrome, Firefox or Opera.
Or they could just open the respective browser that they already have installed anyway.
This isn't 1995. Everybody knows they aren't limited to a single browser.
Uh, getting a newer version of Destroyer isn't really an upgrade; I think he's talking about downloading a different browser. There's plenty of good browsers out there that aren't malware magnets, and give a better and more configurable browsing experience to boot.
I’m using Telnet.
Not a problem. Modern versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera will run just fine on XP. And all work better than IE 8.
Yes, they could, and sure, everyone knows that. Still, I would refuse to patronize him simply to punish his arrogance, and I doubt I am alone. Remember, the customer is always right, even when they really are completely wrong.
I don’t know if this is the answer, but it is an approach to the problem.
Microsoft intentionally tries to do things that - if a website works for them - will not work for other browsers. Their stated goal some time back was to replace non-proprietary code with their proprietary code. Javascript for example.
MS purpose was that since they have the major market share developers had to develop for IE, and would be more likely not to do what it then took to make it work for standards compliant browsers - thus making those users switch thinking their browsers were deficient. When it was MS causing the problem.
When I was developing this was a major source of problems and frustration.
The solution is for MS to make browsers that are compliant enabling developers to code to a standard and the internet to work for all browsers.
There may be other and better solutions, but whatever forces encourage MS to not try to own the internet via their current method is a good thing IMHO.
How long have you been married to yours?
I’m a polygamist, I use Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
Consider an upgrade to w3m.
Showoff.
Rumor has it that IE 9 was a major revamp, featuring tight standards compliance and vastly improved JavaScript performance. But I wouldn't know, because I'm too cheap to spring for Windows 7.
I’m not. I have 4 different browsers installed on this machine, that I use for different purposes. The thing is, I choose when I want to use those browsers, not some jackass running a webstore. As I said, I’d refuse to patronize him because of his arrogance, not because I am too lazy to switch to the other browser.
Hmm, but can I play MUDs on that?
Sounds like principle for the sake of... nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.