How many browsers can claim to have a special gravestone dedicated in their memory? Well, for now, only the recently retired Internet Explorer can. Having been the butt of jokes and trolls for most of its life, it was only fitting that the browser’s “final resting place” would be a hilarious homage to one of the most iconic tools in Internet history.
Last week on June 15, Microsoft officially retired its oldest browser after 27 years, resulting in a mix of funny and nostalgic reactions from people all over the world.
Much like most of the netizen population, South Korean software engineer Jung Ki-young had what can only be described as a love-hate relationship with the Internet Explorer. However, unlike most of the netizen population, he chose to react to the browser’s demise in the most epic manner imaginable.
The engineer got to work with 430,000 won ($330) over the course of a month to design a headstone commemorating Microsoft’s browser. With the Explorer’s iconic “e” logo and a hilarious epitaph, the headstone had all the makings of becoming a viral sensation.
“He was a good tool to download other browsers,” the cheeky dedication read.
After the gravestone was sighted in a café run by Jung’s brother in the city of Gyeongju, its photo went viral.
Jung said the memorial showed his mixed feelings for the software, which had played such a big part in his working life.
“It was a pain in the a**, but I would call it a love-hate relationship because Explorer itself once dominated an era,” he said.
He admitted that while he had been meaning to make people laugh with this gravestone, he hadn’t expected it to go viral like this.
“That’s another reason for me to thank the Explorer, it has now allowed me to make a world-class joke,” Jung said. “I regret that it’s gone, but won’t miss it. So its retirement, to me, is a good death.“
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