Let’s Get Quizzical: Technology

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Looking for something to do this weekend? Don’t worry, we’ve got you sorted. Put your best Quizmaster hat on, set up a Zoom or a FaceTime with your mates, and get quizzing! Add this round to a longer quiz, or just keep it short and sweet. This one’s all about technology...answers at the bottom.

QUESTIONS

1. Apple, Google and HP were all started in what type of building?

a) Warehouse

b) Garage

c) Coffee Shop

d) Train Station

2. In 1936, Russia built a computer that ran on what?

a) Water

b) Electricity

c) Horses

d) Sunlight

3. What percentage of the world’s population uses the internet?

a) 45%

b) 73%

c) 27%

d) 59%

4. How many Tweets are sent a day, worldwide?

a) 45 million

b) 100,000

c) 500 million

d) 750,000

5. True or false: Nintendo was founded in 1889?

True

False

6. What does ‘www’ stand for?

a) World web wire

b) World wide web

c) Wide world websites

d) Websites, words & wifi

7. Aircraft flight recorders are often known as the ‘black box’. What colour are they actually? 

a) Orange

b) Grey

c) Blue

d) Red

8. True or false: Google hires goats.

True

False

9. In 1839, Robert Cornelius did the first ever what?

a) Vlog

b) Email

c) Selfie

d) Ted Talk

10. What was the first ever product to have its barcode scanned?

a) Lemonade

b) Chocolate

c) Fruit

d) Chewing gum

ANSWERS

1. The answer is b) Garage!

That’s right, from humble beginnings to multi-billion dollar world domination, Steve Jobs, Larry Page & Sergey Brin, and Bill Hewlett all started their companies in garages either on the side of, or near their houses. Time to start clearing out your garage and see what you can do…

2. The answer is a) Water!

Before computers had internal machinery, they had a much more visible system - gears, pivots, and levers were used and needed some sort of power to function. Vladimir Lukyanov built a system in 1936 using a complex system of interconnected tubes filled with water to create a computer that solved partial differential equations. Amazing!

3. The answer is d) 59%

As of January 2020, almost 4.54 billion people were active internet users. That’s 59% of the global population! China, India and the United States rank the highest above all other countries. 

4. The answer is c) 500 million!

Phew! People clearly have a lot to say! Every second on average, around 6,000 tweets are posted to Twitter. That means over 350,000 tweets a minute, and 500 million tweets a day. Add that all up and that’s around 200 billion tweets a year!

5. The answer is True!

That’s right, believe it or not, Nintendo was first founded in 1889, to produce handmade hanafuda - a style of Japanese playing cards. It eventually became what we know it today, the world’s largest video game company!

6. The answer is b) World wide web!

In December 1990, Tim Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for the working web and the first web pages ever that described the project itself. Cool!

7. The answer is a) Orange!

Yep, the so-called black box is actually orange! In the case of an emergency, the box needs to be easy to find in any environment...so the brighter the better! 

8. The answer is True!

Truly! Google’s HQ is surrounded by luscious green grass that needs looking after, so...they hire goats to graze it! Free food for the goats and happy little chompers to spot for employees? Now that’s a win win.

9. The answer is c) Selfie!

Way back when in 1839, amateur chemist and photography enthusiast Robert Cornelius set up his camera in the back of his family store in Philadelphia, removed the lens cap, ran into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens. It’s become known as the first ever selfie taken and has “The first light Picture ever taken, 1839” written on the back!

10. The answer is d) Chewing gum!

Norman Joseph Woodland invented the barcode in 1952, but it wasn't until 1974 that it was developed to be used for product labelling. The first ever product to have a barcode scanned was a packet of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, when it was scanned in Ohio at 8:01am, on June 26 1974!