Browser usage.

[Andrew J. Mutch]

Bill,

Good questions--and relevent--I just talked to a patron today who has a
Pentium 166 with 32 MB RAM running Win 3.1 with no web browser!  It's like
having a bus engine in a Pinto with no wheels.

I think questions 1 and 2 can be directly traced to the technical
"familiarity" or competence of the users.  Think about it, the majority of
home users are using what came with their computers.  Corporate users are
using what their tech staff have last loaded.  Unless you follow the
"computer" scene, can you really be expected to know what the newest and
best is?  Are you going to shell out money for the lasest bells and
whistles, if what you have now works fine?  But IE is free you
say--true--but you have to know how to download and install--OK--I know,
really basic but from the people I talk to on a regular basis, you might
as well ask them to rewire their motherboard.  

They'll continue to use what they have until it becomes an
obstacle(Netscape 2.0) or someone makes a big splash with a
"revolutionary" new browser--or they buy a new computer(Answer to #3).

On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, Wilfred Drew wrote:

> For my internet site, Not Just Cows, I have been using the free counter
> provided by pagecount.com.  It is shwoing some intereseting statistics.
> 
> In the last 3000 hits, the majority of users are uisng Windows 95.  The
> most used browser is Netscape 3.0 with all versions of Internet Explorer
> coming in second and Netscape 4 coming in at third.
> 
> This raises the following question in my mind:
> 
> 1. If people are using Win95, why not use the latest browser?
> 
> 2. Some are still using Netscape 1.0 and 2.0, why?
> 
> 3. When do users switch to the latest browser version?
> --
> Wilfred Drew (Call me "Bill"); Associate Librarian (Systems, Reference)
> SUNY College of Ag. & Tech.;   P.O. Box 902;  Morrisville, NY 13408-0902
> E-mail: DREWWE at MORRISVILLE.EDU powwow:drewwe at wedrew.lib.morrisville.edu
> AOL Instant Messenger:BillDrew2
> Phone: (315)684-6055 or 684-6060 Fax: (315)684-6115
> Homepage: http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/
> Not Just Cows: http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/njc/
> LibraryLinks: http://www.morrisville.edu/pages/library/
> --
>