It’s time to upgrade, folks.

We’re not talking about signing up for Facebook or downloading the latest version of Tweetdeck for your iPhone. We’re not talking about pushing all of your data to the cloud (the city of Los Angeles only did for 30,000+ employees) or replacing your networked tower computer with an iPad.

When we say upgrade, we’re talking about moving into the current decade with the latest and greatest version of your browser.

You know how some people say eyes are the window to the soul? Well your browser is the window to the internet [read: world].

We [dynamIt] and our industry brethren who work days (and nights) to create and deliver efficient, usable, beautiful work to our clients and their clients politely ask [demand] that you upgrade. Now.

Your browser – be it Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari or Chrome (current usage statistics) – is a tool. Its job is to interpret the code and design that we create and express them to you. In contemporary web, the expression of images and text is coupled with functionality and usability. When you mouse over something, it may move or change color. When you click, things happen. In progressive web applications you may see things happening without the entire page refreshing. Movement, images, video, data collection and distribution – all through cool and attractive interfaces. The capabilities of contemporary web truly are amazing. We [the people who think about and make things for the interwebz] very much want to continue delivering these tools and experiences to you.

However, WE NEED YOUR HELP. You see, the older versions of your browsers weren’t built to help us deliver the experiences we are capable of and that you expect. And, when we can finagle our code to make things work, it greatly increases development time (I’m talking hours and hours and hours to ensure compatibility across all of the different versions and types).

The biggest perp is Internet Explorer 6. Honestly, Microsoft will discontinue support for IE6 (commonly run in corporate and educational environments) in July. It was an Internet Explorer security hole that led to the most recent Google attacks. Google is no longer supporting IE 6 for some of it’s most important applications and websites. We all know and respect Google. Please, follow their lead.

So, please, help us out!

• Beg your IT department to upgrade the browsers on your network.
• Plead with your schools to give you the tools you need to experience and consume information the way it’s intended.
• Insist that your spouse concede to learning a slightly new position for the refresh and home buttons when you jump versions.
• And, contribute to the cause yourself. Fire up your laptop or desktop and (generally) click ‘Help’ in your top menu. Look for updates and download them.

The internet is a great place to interact with information and accomplish both professional and personal tasks. As more tools move to web, we’ll continue to to be sure they are working properly and are easily accessed. All you need to do is be sure you’re ready and able to put them to good use!

Tell us – what’s the reason you (or your company) haven’t upgraded yet?