

Ask HN: Why is there such a massive difference in reported Browser market share? - pyrrhotech

http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Usage_share_of_web_browsers#Summary_table<p>Vs.<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.netmarketshare.com&#x2F;browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=2&amp;qpcustomd=0<p>The latter statistics are absolutely terrifying, claiming IE8 alone to have almost a quarter market share and IE in total to have well over 50%.  However in most other places it looks like Chrome is the most widely used browser.  Who should I believe?
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lutusp
> Who should I believe?

The answer is obvious -- don't believe any statistics, anywhere, ever.
Statistics aren't truths about reality, they are estimates with error bounds.
Sometimes the error bounds aren't provided, and when they are provided,
sometimes they aren't right. And when they are right, sometimes the thing
being measured happens to be the worst outcome predicted by probability, i.e.
utterly wrong.

In a basic technical sense, any statistic has a probability that the property
it measures arose from chance rather than reality. This means any statistic
whatever might arise from randomness rather than reality. It's a question of
probability, not truth.

