Farewell, Internet Explorer: Gravestone by South Korean Engineer Goes Viral

An engineer from South Korea spent a month designing and buying a tombstone with Explorer’s “e” logo and the English inscription “He was a good tool to download other browsers.”

Microsoft Corp.’s decision to discontinue its Internet Explorer web browser signified the end of a quarter-century love-hate relationship with the technology for Jung Ki-young, a South Korean software developer.

He spent a month and 430,000 won ($330) creating and commissioning a gravestone with Explorer’s “e” logo and the English epitaph: “He was a good tool to download other browsers” to mourn its demise.

According to The New York Post, a photo of the gravestone has gone viral after it was shown in a cafe run by his brother in southern city of Gyeongju

Furthermore, Washington Post stated, that Microsoft said on Wednesday that it will no longer support Internet Explorer, the once-dominant browser that had a love-hate relationship with billions of internet users. BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems, and Palm Pilots have all been replaced by Internet Explorer.

The memorial, Jung said, reflected his conflicting sentiments about the older software, which had played such a significant role in his professional life. “It was a pain in the ass, but I would call it a love-hate relationship because Explorer itself once dominated an era,” he told Reuters

Jung said he intended for the gravestone to make people laugh, but he was nonetheless amazed at how far the joke spread online. “That’s another reason for me to thank the Explorer, it has now allowed me to make a world-class joke,” he said.

“I regret that it’s gone, but won’t miss it. So its retirement, to me, is a good death.”