Korean Job Discussion Forums

decolyon · Joined: 24 Jul 2010

In my own opinion Chrome and Firefox tie as best web browsers. With Chrome gaining ground on Firefox everyday and soon will be the top.

Safari comes in second, but hardcore Mac users would argue against that.

But despite your OS preference, the world seems to soundly reject IE. Yet, every site in Korea is made to work with IE and those of us who use a second browser sometimes have to switch back and forth.

Why is this? Korea has the best internet connections in the world, without question. It is considered one of the most advanced countries in terms of technological and internet achievement. Yet the whole country thinks you can only access the internet through IE.

When I introduce Chrome or Firefox to a Korean, it's like showing a caveman fire. They are flabbergasted that something other than IE gets them to naver. I will sometimes install Chrome on a work computer that's in my class or I use often and even the school computer guy won't have a clue as to what it is.

How can this be? The Korean netizens are a large and well organized community. How has the topic of different browsers not discussed among them?

It just floors me that hands down the worst web browser around is somehow the "go to" browser for one the worlds most internet friendly countries.

SeoulNate · Joined: 04 Jun 2010 Location: Hyehwa

because half of the korean sites out there are using Active X to control something or another and that crap only works on IE.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Koreans don't love IE. They are forced to use it because they would not be able to do things like internet banking without it.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

nstick13 · Joined: 02 Aug 2009

This is my understanding from various sources I've read over the past couple years. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

It seems as though the government decided on an internet security standard that involved ActiveX control. Initially it was done in the name of uniformity, which in general makes a lot of sense. If I had to guess this was in the late '90s, early 2000s when the internet was coming of age.

Honestly, Microsoft probably wouldn't support ActiveX anymore if it wasn't so widely used here. It's terribly complicated, and not as secure as SSL 128-bit. For the country to change the security protocol and re-educate all its citizens again (the country is computer literate, but I've found to be them terrible computer problem solvers) it would cost an absolute fortune. Alas, the beat goes on.....

Swampfox10mm · Joined: 24 Mar 2011

ActiveX is a perfect fit for the Korean psyche. It forces the user to submit and give control of their machine to the site requiring it. ActiveX is dangerous for this reason, among others. Many Koreans are obsessed with control, and love being able to have the option to do whatever they want, even if they don't exercise it. It gives them a feeling of power and feeds their ego.

Chokse · Joined: 22 May 2009

It was 1998 to be exact. I came to Korea in 1994, and at that time almost no one had a computer at home, and it was difficult as hell to get Internet hooked up at your house (very expensive too). For the most part, the only computers were at Internet cafes and businesses, and most at businesses did not have Internet access.

Then things here kind of fell apart in 1997 with the Asian financial crisis and the IMF bail out. In the years right after the crisis, the government started many programs to try and lift Korea out of the crisis. One of these was the "Internet PC" program. The government started selling cheap PCs through the Post Office. You could go in and buy the computer on a monthly installment plan. The government also started wiring up large apartment complexes for high-speed Internet (at that time it was ADSL). Once the large apartments and companies were done, they started wiring up villas, houses, small apartments, etc.

These programs (Internet PC and wiring up buildings) happened together and were planned that way. The assumption was that it would provide jobs (making the computers and wiring up buildings) and would set Korea on course to be an IT country. But, the government at that time decided that all important data transferred online had to be done using ActiveX. They never thought that web browsers would progress and that ActiveX would become an outdated technology.

Basically, the government put all of its eggs in one basket, and as we see so often in Korea, when a Korean screws up, not only do they not take blame for causing it, but they stubbornly refuse to admit it, even to the point of moving forward with their eyes closed. It is kind of like watching a guy who blew a hole in his boat and knows it is sinking, but still refuses to jump off and instead plans to keep sailing forward.

Believe it or not, in the late 90s and early 2000s, the government actually forced Korean computer makers to only include IE on PCs, even though Netscape was available at that time. Because of this, most Koreans had no clue that you could access the Internet without IE.

And, believe it or not, many of these same people believe it is still true. About 3 years ago, I had a kid going to the school I own and all he wanted was a MacBook. The kid was from a really rich family and his dad took the family on a trip to the US. While they were there, they went into an Apple Store and the dad bought him a MacBook, AppleCare, and Office for Mac. They got back to Korea, fired it up, and then the dad realized two things. First, Windows was not there and he didn't know where anything was. Second, he eventually found where all the applications were stored and looked for IE and couldn't find it. He came to ask me about it (I use a Mac) and I told him there is no IE for Mac. Well, to him this meant the computer could not access the Internet and was therefore a useless piece of junk. I tried to explain and even showed him on my computer that accessing the Internet was simple, but he just couldn't believe that it was possible without using IE.

Because they were back in Korea, he couldn't return the computer, so he told me he was going to throw it in a closet. I told him I'd give him 500,000 won for it and he sold it to me on the spot. They had spent about $1500 on it in the US, and at that time the exchange rate was about 1400 won per dollar. Needless to say that 500,000 won for a 2 week old computer with a 3 year warranty and a legit version of Office was a good buy. Since I already had a fairly new MacBook Pro, I sold that Macbook for 1.3 million won and pocketed 800,000 won off of that guy's stupidity. He went out the next day and got the kid a Dell laptop and was happy to find it had IE on it.

This whole IE thing is so deeply rooted here that even rich educated people end up looking stupid at times.

Sticks · Joined: 13 Mar 2011 Location: Seoul, Korea

I'm planning on reinstalling my work comp's OS to Windows 7, then restricting access to IE/only allowing it to be run on a VM, plus having it scheduled to make weekly disk images.

I left it unattended over a weekend and I came back on the Monday to find it chock full of Korean spyware/bloatware, now seriously... Evil or Very Mad

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

Bloopity Bloop · Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Location: Seoul yo

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

I don't mind IE......I find it no better or worse than the others now that virus detection and damage control is much better than before in the XP days.

Chrome is my favorite simply because I like it's favorites system. Which is why I didn't like Firefox.

As for why Koreans stick to XP and IE so doggedly is because,

1. they all believe that only XP and IE will allow them to use banking and government websites. They're half correct. They DO need IE for those websites, but they DON'T need XP.........but try telling that to your school IT guy.....he just won't believe you.

2. Koreans are creatures of habit.

Murakano · Joined: 10 Sep 2009

I used Firefox previously but now Chrome.

I heard the new/latest version of IE is pretty good though (haven't tried it to verify mind).

Chokse · Joined: 22 May 2009

To the person who is arguing that IE is no better or worse than other browsers, that may or may not be true and I'm not going to get into that argument.

However, what you are forgetting is that by and large, Koreans are still using IE6! That is where we find the problem. Koreans still use IE6 because many still use XP and IE6 and never bother updating. The only Koreans using something newer than IE6 are those that bought a computer with Vista or Win7, and in many cases they reverted to XP and therefore IE6 because they feel more comfortable with it.

IE6 is so old and so bad. Yet they keep using it. Just look at the map below (this is from Microsoft) and you'll see that Korea has the second highest rate of IE6 usage in the world, and is only behind China.

http://www.theie6countdown.com/default.aspx

Even Microsoft is trying to get people to stop using it, but many Koreans just won't budge.

akcrono · Joined: 11 Mar 2010