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Earlier quoted context omitted.
And big enterprises are places with deep pockets. They'd happily pay the IE6 tax. I'm not really serious about the idea, but the idea of taxing users of outdated software could lead to some pretty interesting applications.
The enterprises wouldn't decide to pay the IE tax. The decision would have to be made by the end-users forced to use IE6. And they wouldn't pay.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
but the underlying problem is that IE6s are still sticking in big enterprise/workplace where they do not have a choice of uninstalling it.
Actually, the biggest pool of IE6 users are people from poor countries running pirated copies of Windows XP with no access to automatic updates.
Africa and Asia lead in IE6 by almost 25%. I was surprised, but it does make sense -- pirated XP comes with IE6, people can't use Windows Update, so they just stick with it.
This is what we do too, but this isn't going to kill IE6. It's not a problem that sites support it, it's a problem that large companies and non-techies don't want to or know how to upgrade. What I do for all my sites is add http://pushuptheweb.com/ to all my pages and customize the message to say they're not getting the full experience and that their browser may be unsecure.
The more websites that drop IE6 support, the more IE6 becomes "not good enough", and the more pressure accumulates for corporations to upgrade. Right now it's more practical in many environments for the IT group to stick with IE6 than upgrade. The day it becomes more practical to upgrade than stay put is the day IE6 dies.
IE6 is the new NN4 To be fair though, NN4 support was a massive pain, getting people off it even more pain. (for those that got into webdev post-2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_Navigator )
IE 6 should be ignored.
Of course the problem with this strategy is that you may not be in a vacuum. If I'm a competing shop I simply say that I'll do it all for a price somewhat south of your +IE6 price. And if I have some experienced webdevs who have done this type of stuff since forever, the cost is already largely locked in. Sure I may not be "helping the web" (whatever that means), it may mean a substantial boost in revenue.
Don't mention browser support. And if the topic of IE 6 comes up, charge a price.
I run a web design company and as part of the discovery process, we ask questions to figure out whether or not big corporations, schools, gov. agencies, etc, are part of their core target audience. We also look at their existing analytics data if they have it. If they have visitors using IE6, we just assume that we're going to need to support IE6 and adjust the price according. There is no good reason to make the cus…
Of course the problem with this strategy is that you may not be in a vacuum. If I'm a competing shop I simply say that I'll do it all for a price somewhat south of your +IE6 price. And if I have some experienced webdevs who have done this type of stuff since forever, the cost is already largely locked in. Sure I may not be "helping the web" (whatever that means), it may mean a substantial boost in revenue.
I doubt IE6 is a make or break reason for clients nowdays. Don't mention browser support. And if the topic of IE 6 comes up, charge a price.
If you're developing a consumer app, you're probably in pretty good shape though. Some friends at a consumer-focused webshop report IE6 rates < 3%. Furthermore, most of that 3% probably have Firefox installed and could use it easily if they were told that the site wasn't IE6 compatible. So, for them, the ROI of IE6 support is probably quite negative.
Of course the problem with this strategy is that you may not be in a vacuum. If I'm a competing shop I simply say that I'll do it all for a price somewhat south of your +IE6 price. And if I have some experienced webdevs who have done this type of stuff since forever, the cost is already largely locked in. Sure I may not be "helping the web" (whatever that means), it may mean a substantial boost in revenue.