I don't think the problem is the talent of the IE team. I think the problem is they disbanded the IE team for several years. At least, that's what I remember reading in the Founders at Work chapter on Blake Ross. In other words, it was an explicit management decision to not make IE better. In that situation, there is literally nothing the developers can do.
Not literally nothing. I guess you haven't read "The Graphing Calculator Story":
I was frustrated by all the wasted effort,
so I decided
to uncancel my small part of the project.
I had been paid to do a job,
and I wanted to finish it.
My electronic badge
still opened Apple's doors,
so I just kept showing up.
