Grandparents aren’t the only ones resistant to change

Changes can be daunting at first, however many of them — particularly in regards to technology — are beneficial to users. If you found a way to not only make pages load faster, but also have a larger variety of capabilities available to your Internet experience, make surfing the net more convenient, and feature an overall more efficient experience, would you at least try it out?

Well, apparently these perks are not enough to persuade some users to try out alternate web browsers. Despite browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome sporting technical advantages and critical acclaim from sources such as CNet and About.com, millions of people still choose to stick with the default Windows browser, Internet Explorer, without even giving another browsers a needed chance.

I can understand why users who have a high-speed Internet connections might not need a particularly speedy browser, or those who use the Internet sparingly making them apathetic towards which browser they use, as it ultimately does not affect them. However, it is irrational that many users who frequently express irritation or frustration with the slow speed of their Internet connection will not at least try this relatively easy change.

The downloads are free, they only take a few minutes, and the browsers take up a very small amount of hard drive space. Compared to the amount of time it can potentially save people with a slow Internet speed, downloading a third party browser is almost always likely to be a good choice.

The main issue people seem to have with trying out new browsers is a fear of change. When asked why she was hesitant to switch over from Internet Explorer, despite constant heckling from friends, 19-year old Megan Seabrook simply stated that "it was the default browser".

That seems to be the general consensus amongst people who do not want to try out a third-party browser; Internet Explorer is the default, and they are used to it. Trying something new would involve change, and moving briefly outside of their comfort zones, which is apparently too big of a sacrifice for some people to make. Even if this sacrifice means faster, more efficient internet service and an overall better surfing experience; people are simply too afraid of change.

This fear of change is not only present in browsing software; whenever a program has a "default" version that comes pre-installed on computers, it becomes difficult to convince users to try out other software, even if said software will work better than what they are using.

Windows Media Player is one of these programs; despite not supporting many file types — including the popular .mkv format — and having very limited options when it comes to dual audio tracks and subtitles, many people still choose to use it simply because it comes pre-installed with Windows.

Some will actively avoid .mkv video files, and instead go out of their way to find the same videos in mp4 format, simply because they are too used to Windows Media Player to try out something new. Alternative media players such as VLC and MPC-HC are free to download, support a wider variety of video types and ultimately can provide better video quality. But, people are scared to make the change.

Overall, it is baffling that people continue to use out-dated, inferior software, when free alternatives are available, simply because change scares them. We complain frequently about our parent's generation being closed-minded and unwilling to accept the changes of our generation, yet we are already beginning to follow the same trend by not accepting change in the new generation of third-party software.

I challenge readers to step outside their comfort zone, and try out a third party browser or media player, even for a brief period of time, and see what they think. Embrace the change.

For a particularly speedy browser check out Google Chrome at google.com/chrome