You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz
This week was so chock-full of news we really needed two quizzes to cover it all. Apple unveiled heaps of new hardware, not quite 48 hours before Microsoft officially served up Windows 7 -- a sorbet of an OS designed to help users lose the bitter aftertaste of Windows Vista. But wait, there's more. With new e-book readers, new "iPhone killers," and new music services, our holiday wish list overfloweth. Your task: Navigate our knotty questions on your way to a perfect score. Award yourself 10 points for each correct answer. Now begin.
1. Microsoft has finally unleashed Windows 7 upon the world. Which of the following is not one of the marketing gimmicks the company is employing to promote it?
a. 7-word recaps of NFL gamesb. 7-second video clips on YouTubec. 7-layer Winburger from Burger Kingd. Remake of the movie "Se7en"
2. In a surprise announcement, Apple unveiled a slew of sleek new machines. Which of the following items was not among them?
a. 27-inch iMac desktop
b. Multitouch "magic" mouse
c. A beefed-up Mac Mini
d. The iPad Tablet
3. Verizon unleashed a new anti-Apple ad campaign for its upcoming smartphone based on Google Android 2.0. And the name of the latest "iPhone killer" is ... ?
a. Droid
b. Noid
c. Lloyd
d. Void
4. Two dozen tech CEOs signed a statement calling for the FCC to establish rules about Net neutrality. Which of the following CEOs was not on that list?
a. Eric Schmidt, Google
b. Carol Bartz, Yahoo
c. Jeff Bezos, Amazon
d. Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics
5. Microsoft has also begun selling Windows 7 PCs in both its online and new brick-and-mortar stores. Which of the following PC vendors is not yet represented at Microsoft's Online Store?
a. Acer
b. Dell
c. HP
d. Toshiba
6. "I feel like we're 1 percent into this. We don't want to be that child actor who finds success early and grows up to be weird." Which tech exec doesn't want his company to turn into Danny Bonaduce?
a. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
b. Biz Stone, Twitter
c. Michael Arrington, TechCrunch
d. JR Raphael, eSarcasm
7. Pew research dropped a dipstick in the social media waters recently. How many Americans are now updating their status on Twitter and Twitter-like services, according to Pew?
a. 1 in 10
b. 1 in 7
c. 1 in 5
d. 1 in 3
8. Read any good e-books lately? You'll soon have yet another way to do it, thanks to Barnes & Noble's new Kindle competitor. What's the B&N reader called?
a. Book
b. Nook
c. Hook
d. Crook
9. Google is leaving a little something under the tree for its fans this holiday season. What is it?
a. Free subscriptions to Google Audio
b. Free Google-branded Android phones
c. Free Wi-Fi on Virgin Airlines
d. Free Google Voice for nunneries
10. Take the number of iPhones that AT&T activated in its most recent quarter and add the number of Time Warner Cable broadband routers vulnerable to external hacking. Divide by the average age of a Facebook user, per the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Run that up your status update and see who salutes it. What do you get?
a. 989.39
b. 9,893.39
c. 98,939.39
d. 9,893,939.39
ANSWER KEY
Question 1: Microsoft has finally unleashed Windows 7 upon the world. Which of the following is not one of the marketing gimmicks the company is employing to promote it?
Correct Answer: Remake of the movie "Se7en"
As part of its septo-centric marketing push, Microsoft is planning to offer terse recaps of gridiron action, sneeze-and-you'll-miss-them viral videos, and extremely meaty burgers (but only in Japan, so far). However, no sign of any remakes of that gruesome serial-killer flick starring a young Brad Pitt (though if they did, we think Ashton Kutcher would be perfect for it).
Question 2: In a surprise announcement, Apple unveiled a slew of sleek new machines. Which of the following items was not among them?
Correct Answer: The iPad Tablet
Apple's new iMac desktop lineup includes 21- and 27-inch models, plus upgraded versions of the Mac Mini and the new Magic Mouse, which brings a cell-phone-like multitouch interface to desktops. But nope, no sign of the much-rumored game-changing tablet yet. Nothing to see here, please defer your Apple hopes and dreams to another day.
Question 3: Verizon unleashed a new anti-Apple ad campaign for its upcoming smartphone based on Google Android 2.0. And the name of the latest "iPhone killer" is ... ?
Correct Answer: Droid
Verizon released a video ad and a Web site describing what the Motorola Droid will iDo that the iPhone iDon't, but offered little detail on anything else, leaving it up to the blogosphere to fill in the blanks. But "iPhone killer"? iDon't think so.
Question 4: Two dozen tech CEOs signed a statement calling for the FCC to establish rules about Net neutrality. Which of the following CEOs was not on that list?
Correct Answer: Carol Bartz, Yahoo
Also missing from the call for "common sense baseline rules" on Net neutrality: AT&T's Randall Stephenson, Comcast's Brian Roberts, and the Steve twins (Ballmer and Jobs). Which means either (a) nobody asked them to sign, or (b) they don't support common sense.
Question 5: Microsoft has also begun selling Windows 7 PCs in both its online and new brick-and-mortar stores. Which of the following PC vendors is not yet represented at Microsoft's Online Store?
Correct Answer: Toshiba
You can also choose from a handful of PCs from Lenovo and Sony, but Toshiba is still MIA from MOS. As for the fourth largest PC vendor in the United States? The day Apple products appear on Microsoft store shelves is the day Steve Jobs starts selling popsicles in Hell.
Question 6: "I feel like we're 1 percent into this. We don't want to be that child actor who finds success early and grows up to be weird."Which tech exec doesn't want his company to turn into Danny Bonaduce?
Correct Answer: Biz Stone, Twitter
Stone made the comment in a conversation with Wired magazine columnist Steve Levy. Stone also said, "If there are three sentences I'd use to describe Twitter, one of them would be 'I don't know.'" And the other two? Odds are they probably wouldn't be "I like to smoke crack," or "I enjoy beating up transvestites." Sorry, Danny.
Question 7: Pew research dropped a dipstick in the social media waters recently. How many Americans are now updating their status on Twitter and Twitter-like services, according to Pew?
Correct Answer: 1 in 5
Just under 20 percent of those surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project update their status on Twitter, Facebook, et al -- or nearly twice the number that were tweeting during Pew's survey last spring. Also per the survey: The more Net-connected gadgets you own, the more you believe the world really wants to know what you had for lunch.
Question 8: Read any good e-books lately? You'll soon have yet another way to do it, thanks to Barnes & Noble's new Kindle competitor. What's the B&N reader called?
Correct Answer: Nook
Like the Kindle, B&N's e-book reader will retail for $259; unlike the Kindle, the Nook will run a version of Google's Android OS, feature a color touchscreen, and allow you to lend e-books to friends. Still, anything called a "Nook e-reader" surely promises more than it can deliver.
Question 9: Google is leaving a little something under the tree for its fans this holiday season. What is it?
Correct Answer: Free Wi-Fi on Virgin Airlines
From Nov. 10 through Jan. 15 next year, you'll be able to log on to the Gogo Net service on Virgin flights between select cities, saving yourself $6 to $13 per trip, courtesy of the Big G. Though rumors abound that Google is planning to distribute its own handset, none have yet been spotted in the wild. Ditto for the alleged Google Audio music service. And though we're confident Google feels warmly toward any sisters of mercy, it's not planning to hook those Benedictine nuns up to Google Voice, no matter how loudly AT&T complains.
Question 10: Take the number of iPhones that AT&T activated in its most recent quarter and add the number of Time Warner Cable broadband routers vulnerable to external hacking. Divide by the average age of a Facebook user, per the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Run that up your status update and see who salutes it. What do you get?
Correct Answer: 98,939.39
AT&T activated a record 3.2 million iPhones in its most recent quarter, a new record. Some 65,000 Time Warner Cable modems are vulnerable to remote hack attacks, per a report by Wired News. According to Pew, the average Facebooker is 33 years old -- up from 26 last April. So 3.2M + 65K / 33 = 98,939.3939, give or take. The graying of Facebook is proof that either (a) old farts are embracing social networks faster than young hipsters, or (b) using social media ages you more quickly. Come back next week for an increasingly decrepit quiz.
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Dan Tynan is contributing editor at InfoWorld, author of the Tynan on Technology blog, and co-founder of eSarcasm, an award-winning geek humor site. (Note: Awards still pending.)
Original story - www.infoworld.com/node/97165
