"The page cannot be displayed"

IE is everywhere.

Here's the classic Internet Explorer "page cannot be displayed" error message, as displayed on the big electronic billboard at the East Palo Alto Ikea store.

For you non-IE users, it reads "The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings,"

The brightness of this image or something made the display jumpy, which is why it's hard to read. Other ads (the ones that actually loaded :-) displayed fine.

My favorite part: the scroll bar at the bottom.

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Comments

courtneyp says:

oh, NICE!
Posted 53 months ago. ( permalink )

Steffe says:

Great shot! Only using Firefox these days! Havent been to IKEA (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd) in years!
Posted 53 months ago. ( permalink )

Marvin (PA) says:

Come to that, IKEA's everywhere. Good shot. I too like the useless scrollbar.
Posted 53 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

Oh that is fantastic!!! The creepy march of the Microsoft monoculture... (blog)
Posted 53 months ago. ( permalink )

Eric Rice says:

I drove by that sign the other day... it seemed to be only visible while driving south, not north on 101. I love that stuff. In fact, I saw this in Vancouver, B.C.,
Posted 53 months ago. ( permalink )

loompyloompy says:

wonder who noticed it?
Posted 50 months ago. ( permalink )

Brainless Angel says:

Doesn't the scrollbar make you want to reach out and touch?
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

xbrendangenius says:

haha, this is great.
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

rctlocomotionwikipeida has moved to zooomr [deleted] says:

IE is everywhere (this is great)!
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

_alia says:

Same sign different error... :-)
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

Listen to the technology
– Carver Mead

I just wanted to make a politcal statement... ;-)
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

Peter Kaminski says:

alia, great capture!

nice one, steve. ;-)
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

DaveToo says:

Looks familiar
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

anitab83 says:

Haha, this is too funny. I was just thinking this would make a great ad for a Microsoft competitor.

Also, I thought you might be interested to know this made my Top 10 Billboards post at Say No to Crack (my silly, all-ages appropriate, humor site).

Thanks for making this picture Creative Commons!
Posted 35 months ago. ( permalink )

Paladin27 says:

You'd think they would at least make a custom error page for the software that's running this sign to direct to if something unexpected happens.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Ice Brodie says:

Hack the advert!
Okay, so th web is prevasive enough to build advertising with, this, while not competely abnormal given evolution of tech, is a bit sary at the same time.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Andy Geer says:

It seems jurvetson and Steffe are using the version of Firefox that magically creates pages even for websites with invalid URL's.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Tom O'Neill says:

You have been dugg, sweet!
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

daveboudreau says:

the scroll bar really is such a nice touch!
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

duanemoodydotcom says:

LMAO! That is awesome.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

rowast says:

i still am angered that i had to set all the machines at my work to IE as the default when firefox is much more secure and stable (in my estimation), opera is as well.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

windowshoppers1979 says:

Ahhh...technology. Gotta love it. I guess it's better than it showing a porn site or something.
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

macewan says:

came over from digg

great shot
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Mac Porteiro says:

Great photo! hahahaha... omg...
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

gags_d_rebel says:

lolzzz
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Joe Hastings says:

Amazing

Scroll bar is a nice touch...
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

alla la mala says:

sweet :-) and hillarious
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

thelastminute says:

classic
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

Michal Osmenda says:

class!
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

arex says:

HAH! I remember seeing this when I drove by to go to 84!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Angel! says:

I've seen it too--- too many times :P
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

johanhagelback says:

Wonderful timing of the picture. Like it a lot!
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

keysclass2014 says:

I drive past this sign everyday and it is so funny because it is often like that. Nothing screams welcome to Silicon Valley better than that.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

library_mistress says:

maybe that's something for the Ikea Lovers group: www.flickr.com/groups/ikea_lovers/
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Caffeine inc says:

brilliant!
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

alex_m_walker says:

Without wanting to defend IE -- I've had battle it enough times -- there's nothing about that screen that is a direct indictment on IE. It's being asked to display a page that isn't available.

If Apple.com's webserver melted down and you tried to visit it with IE, you'd get that page. That doesn't mean the browser is wrong.
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

James Cridland says:

Nice photo. Thanks for making it available for CC - I've used it here:
james.cridland.net/blog/2007/11/18/where-have -i-been/
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

calmenda says:

haha
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

matýsek says:

LOL
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

Jeffery Schreiner says:

thats funny!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

jonlin360 says:

Hey, I saw an error message on a giant billboard in sweden last week, and it was apparently using Ubuntu, it was displaying an ubuntu-style dialog box on top of the advertisements that said something along the lines of "Security Information - AutoUpdate the system must be restarted..."

The billboard looked similar to this, but it was not Ikea and only half of the dialog box was visible.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

BlueisCoool says:

Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

bluemedia photography says:

quality
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

ablecluster says:

LOL, too funny dude. Did you stop and get some IKEA Meatballs while you were there at least?

RT
www.privacy-tools.us.tc
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

ThankYouDriveThrough says:

Wow. Some of you are embarrassing yourselves. This is a advertising failure, not an IE failure. Nothing worse than non-tech savvy people trying to jump aboard the anti Microsoft train. This is not a problem with IE. The web server cannot locate the page. Any browser would throw a similar error message. The chances are the web server doesn't even run a piece of Microsoft software.

That being said, I use FireFox exclusively.

Dumb people: Thanks for finally motivating me to create a flickr account so I could comment.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

Rabi Abonour says:

Ha. I saw a sign at the Olympic Village in Barcelona once with a Blue Screen of Death. I had just put away my camera and couldn't get it our in time to get a picture. :(
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

xeblic says:

Very funny.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

!!stefan (SH) says:

hrhr
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

airtonix2006 says:

== ThankYouDriveThrough says:
== The chances are the web server doesn't even run a piece of Microsoft software.

That page there is generated by the server. that page there is the default "404: error page not found" page iis gives out.

You will also note the scrollbars...ms windows scrollbars.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

Graeme Fullwood says:

LOL that's amazing haha
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

brad.gosse says:

Awesome. I once saw the blue screen of death on the main MGM Grand Las Vegas sign
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

They are everywhere...

Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

andrespereyda says:

ikea should make a donation to andrespereyda.com for this

Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

oskay says:

I just drove by there a couple of days ago-- Looks like they took the sign down. It did have a lot of errors-- I wonder if that's why.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

audiohhh says:

I want that monitor for my living room
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

thetimchannel says:

Yeah, but it's cheaper than a Mac. LOL.

Enjoy.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

ThankYouDriveThrough says:

airtonix2006:

You're correct. The browser is internet explorer. No one is saying it's not. The error message on the browser screen has NOTHING to do with internet explorer. It's a webpage the browser is serving up. It says page not found because the PAGE IS NOT FOUND on the server. Every browser would say something similar. The problem is the file isn't located on the webserver. That has nothing to do with Internet Explorer.

Get off the internet if you don't know how to use it and don't forget to wear your helmet.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

★hime's images★ says:

LOL !

--
Seen on digg.com (?)
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

coljung says:

nice capture.

Digg effect !!!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

Legoman513 says:

ThankYouDriveThrough is correct. As much as I hate internet explorer, I find mac fanboys who don't know what they are talking about to be far worse. The browser simply cant find the page on the server - this completely unrelated to the browser. Any web browser, whether it was IE or Firefox or Opera or Safari, would bring up a similar error in that situation. If you're gunna bash something, be sure to know what your talking about please.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

Ryanwiz says:

so freakin awesome.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

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"The page cannot be displayed"

Comments

courtneyp says:

Steffe says:

Marvin (PA) says:

jurvetson says:

Eric Rice says:

loompyloompy says:

Brainless Angel says:

xbrendangenius says:

rctlocomotionwikipeida has moved to zooomr [deleted] says:

_alia says:

jurvetson says:

Peter Kaminski says:

DaveToo says:

anitab83 says:

Paladin27 says:

Ice Brodie says:

Andy Geer says:

Tom O'Neill says:

daveboudreau says:

duanemoodydotcom says:

rowast says:

windowshoppers1979 says:

macewan says:

Mac Porteiro says:

gags_d_rebel says:

Joe Hastings says:

alla la mala says:

thelastminute says:

Michal Osmenda says:

arex says:

Angel! says:

johanhagelback says:

keysclass2014 says:

library_mistress says:

Caffeine inc says:

alex_m_walker says:

James Cridland says:

calmenda says:

matýsek says:

Jeffery Schreiner says:

jonlin360 says:

BlueisCoool says:

bluemedia photography says:

ablecluster says:

ThankYouDriveThrough says:

Rabi Abonour says:

xeblic says:

!!stefan (SH) says:

airtonix2006 says:

Graeme Fullwood says:

brad.gosse says:

jurvetson says:

andrespereyda says:

oskay says:

audiohhh says:

thetimchannel says:

ThankYouDriveThrough says:

★hime's images★ says:

coljung says:

Legoman513 says:

Ryanwiz says:

Would you like to comment?

Peter Kaminski's photostream

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