Why the Edge Browser Meme Refuses to Die: A Ripple CTO's Perspective

David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer at Ripple, recently jumped into the classic internet browser debate by taking a humorous jab at Microsoft Edge. His comment adds fresh fuel to a running joke that has entertained tech communities for over two decades.

The Internet Meme That Won’t Quit

The roots of this internet meme go deep. Internet Explorer dominated the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it earned a notorious reputation for being bloated, crash-prone, and security-riddled. Users began joking that IE’s primary function was serving as a download tool for Chrome—a quip that stuck around long after IE’s decline.

IE 6 became the ultimate cautionary tale: slow rendering, terrible CSS support, and constant vulnerabilities. When Firefox emerged as a faster alternative, followed by Chrome’s meteoric rise, IE’s market dominance crumbled. Yet the meme evolved rather than died.

Microsoft attempted a fresh start with Edge in Windows 10, positioning it as the modern successor to IE. The new browser showed improvements in speed and design, but skeptics quickly recycled the old joke: “Edge’s only real purpose is downloading Chrome.” The internet meme had found new life in a new browser.

Market Reality vs. User Perception

Today’s numbers tell an interesting story. Chrome commands a dominant 62-68% of the global browser market, while Edge holds just around 5% worldwide. On desktop systems, Edge captures 11-12% market share—respectable for a pre-installed browser on Windows 10 and 11, but still a distant second.

The reason Edge maintains any presence is largely due to its bundled status on Windows. Remove that advantage, and the meme would seem to have real-world basis.

The Crypto Industry’s Browser Complaint

Schwartz isn’t just making jokes about browsers—he’s raised legitimate technical concerns. In 2024, he highlighted Chrome’s notorious memory consumption by sharing a screenshot showing the browser eating up 10GB of RAM. His January 2025 critique went further, calling out Google’s “user-hostile changes” across both Chrome and Android that strip away useful features.

Yet despite these valid complaints, Schwartz made clear that Microsoft Edge isn’t his answer to the Chrome problem. The internet meme, it seems, has convinced even serious technologists that Edge remains the punchline rather than the solution.