--- title: Internet Explorer is done exploring - The Hustle description: The hottest tech products from the early 2000s are gone. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1822578347-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-15T230424.711Z.webp --- # Internet Explorer is done exploring ![Rob Litterst](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rob-Litterst-pic.png?width=48&height=48&name=Rob-Litterst-pic.png) [Rob Litterst](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst) [Rob Litterst Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/robbylit) Published: June 16, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Another staple of early-2000s tech has moved on to the great desktop in the sky. ![Internet Explorer is done exploring](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1822578347-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-15T230424.711Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1822578347-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-15T230424.711Z.webp) Yesterday, Microsoft officially [retired](https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/15/23167121/microsoft-internet-explorer-end-of-support-retirement) Internet Explorer after ~27 years. **The browser…** … reached a peak of ~95% market share in 2003, and was once at the center of a federal antitrust case against Microsoft, but usage has plummeted since. A recent [report](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share) shows Internet Explorer’s market share had fallen to 0.64% in May, compared to ~65% for Google Chrome. It joins two other discontinued tech products that have made the news this year: - **The iPod,** which was officially discontinued on May 10 - **AOL Instant Messenger (AIM),** which sunset in 2017, but enjoyed a retrospective in May on what would have been its 25th birthday Combined, Internet Explorer, the iPod, and AIM made up the holy trinity of tech products for those of a certain age in the early 2000s… **… and their influence lives on** While tech’s evolution made each product obsolete on its own, each has influenced products we use on a daily basis. Internet Explorer’s flaws led to better browsers, the iPod was integrated into the iPhone, and AIM clearly [influenced](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/12/14/67582/aol-instant-messenger-made-social-media-what-it-is-today/) social messaging. The three also represent simpler times — an era before tech was ever-present and mobile notifications flooded our consciousness. Topics: [Big Tech](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/big-tech) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Enshittification just keeps happening](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1666508617-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-enshittification_20230712223650-13.webp) ### Enshittification just keeps happening - ![After years of building pricey playgrounds, Big Tech recalibrates](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/995155615-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Tech-Real-Estate_20230622224458.webp) ### After years of building pricey playgrounds, Big Tech recalibrates - ![TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1576652447-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-16T235439.232Z.webp) ### TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US - ![Why are there so many tech layoffs?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2012563462-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T002724.255Z.webp) ### Why are there so many tech layoffs? - ![Is eBay’s brief renaissance over?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/917426280-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-24T004301.526Z.webp) ### Is eBay’s brief renaissance over? - ![Can Netflix be a lifestyle brand?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/181502968-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-07T042108.421Z.webp) ### Can Netflix be a lifestyle brand? - ![All rise: Emoji have entered the court](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp) ### All rise: Emoji have entered the court - ![What the past year of tech lobbying looked like](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/937681179-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T233808.193Z.webp) ### What the past year of tech lobbying looked like - ![Meta, Microsoft team up on map nonprofit](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/799858659-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-16T014636.683Z.webp) ### Meta, Microsoft team up on map nonprofit - ![Apple’s big changes, courtesy of the EU](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/281541661-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-15T001040.995Z.webp) ### Apple’s big changes, courtesy of the EU Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Rob Litterst", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/rob-litterst" }, "datePublished" : "2022-06-16T06:06:59.000Z", "headline" : "Internet Explorer is done exploring", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1822578347-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-15T230424.711Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/06162022", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Rob Litterst", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T20:01:01+0000", "datePublished" : "2022-06-16T06:06:59+0000", "headline" : "Internet Explorer is done exploring", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1822578347-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-15T230424.711Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```