Whatlegendaryeventpits the

Eastagainstthe Westin a
dramaticduelfor computer
smartssupremacy?

KARENA.FRENKEL

F
lag-waving cheerleaders and an enthusiastic crowd welcomed the
contestants of the worlds first Computer Bowl, as they paraded down
a flight of stairs just outside the auditorium of Bostons World Trade
Center. Excitement and anticipation permeated the gathering of 400-odd
sponsors, Computer Museum staff and friends, spouses of contestants,
and the press, as everyone wondered whether the nations talent in com-
puter trivia lives on the East or West coast. But getting that answer was
secondary to the original goal of raising funds for the Boston Computer
Museum.
But how would these real-life competitors function as team players that
October night? Its not clear that we are a team, said the West Coasts Bill
Joy just before the game, Were five individuals with a comon goal.
Compare that to the Eastern contestants, who, at the very mention of the
word team, hugged one another and professed passionate loyalty.
Asked whether history, hardware, or software was their forte, Easterner
Esther Dyson piped up, Post-1980 PC software.
The teams remained sequestered in locker rooms while technicians
completed a satellite link to an audience on the West Coast. But a tech-

24 Comnzunications of the ACM January 1989 Volume 32 Number 1

nical snag delayed matters for 20 suspense-filled
minutes. To placate the captive East coast audience THECONTESTANTS
(doors were locked at 8 oclock when the game was
scheduled to start), the Copley Brass Ensemble played The WestCoast Team
tunes ranging from Aint Misbehavin to marching
band music by John Philip Sousa. Next, the able and David Bminell, West Coast Captain, Chairman
elegant MC, Christopher Morgan, whetted the audi- and CEO, PCW Communications, publishers of
ences appetite with a cache of computer trivia tidbits. PC World, MacWorld, and other computer
The Computer Bowl is a test of not only skill, but of periodicals.
quick wittedness, he declared, and then demanded,
Adele Goldberg, President and CEO of ParcPlace
Name the top three minicomputer producers in 1965."
Systems, specializing in object-oriented
Many voices unhesitatingly cried forth, SDS, CCC, and
software.
DEC. When they immediately identified the telephone
numbers of Microsoft, Tandy, Apple, and Compaq, Mor- Bill JOY, Cofounder of Sun Microsystems, a
gan could not conceal his delight. Im glad we have a Silicon Valley company making desktop
lot of luminaries here, he said, in case the lights go workstations.
out. Next he asked what computer Data General intro-
duced by showing a microchip in a womans belly Allen Michels, Chairman and CEO of Ardent
button. Unfazed, several people shouted MicroNova. Computer Company, developers and manufac-
And finally, Morgan asked, Name five inventions that turers of graphics supercomputers.
came out of Xerox PARC. Within what seemed like CaseyPowell, President and CEO, Sequent
nanoseconds, an emphatic No emanated from a dis- Computers, makers of multiprocessor
obedient spectator in one of the last rows. Morgans minicomputers.
retort: You must either be very honest or very cynical.
Meanwhile, on the West coast, Gordon Bell amused The East CoastTeam
Dick Shatter, East Coast Captain, Editor-
Publisher of the Technologic Computer Letter and
former technology columnist for the Wall Street
THERULES journal.
(As explained by MC Morgan)
Hereshow the ComputerBowl works. Weaskthe Esther Dyson, software expert and Editor-
panelistsfour rounds of questionsaboutcomputer Publisher of the computer newsletter,
history, technology,business,folklore, and general Release 1.0.
computercraziness.Somequestionsare serious,
David Hathaway,Partner, Venrock Associates,
others are just for fun. Theteamwith the highest
a venture capital firm best known for their
score at the end of the four rounds wins and takes
investments in Apple Computer and Intel.
possessionof a beautiful silver bowl.
Individual questionsin eachround areworth 10 Mitchell Kapor,Chairman of ON Technology,
points apiece.Eachpart of a bonus question is worth and founder of Lotus Development
5 points. Corporation.
If your answeris incorrect, the other teamwill get a
chanceto answerthe question. If you interrupt while Bill Poduska,Chairman and CEO of Stellar
the question is being readand youre incorrect, youll Computer, developers of a graphics super-
also receivea ten-point penalty and well repeatthe workstation for engineers and scientists.
entire questionfor the other side.
Fromtime to time well havespecialtoss-up
questions. Answerthe toss-up correctly,and your
teamgets a chanceat a specialbonus round, where
the score can really add up.
Our judge and arbiter is Mike Perkowski,
During bonus roundsyou cantalk your answers
Associate Publisher of Computer Systems News
over amongyourselves,but remember:the team
and its former back page writer. Questions
captain has to answerfor the team, and within the
were developed by Christopher Morgan with the
time limit.
help of Stephen Coit of Merrill, Pickard, Ander-
Whenthe round is over,youll hear a buzzer.If the
son and Eyre. Our examiner, who covers the
buzzerrings while youre answeringa question, you
hi-tech field for a living, is William ft. HearstIll,
may completethe answer.If it rings while wereasking
editor and publisher of the San Francisco
a question, well discardthat question.
Examiner.
Thedecision of the judge is final.

January 1989 Volume 32 Number 1 Communications of the ACM 25

 ROUNDDIE QUESTIONS
1. Dick Heiseropenedthe worldsfirst microcom- supply effects forthe animatedcartoorl classic
puter store in WestLos Angelesin 1975.Wasit Fantasia?Wasit IBM, Hewlett-Packard,or
called Computerland,The ltty Bitty Computer Sperry Rand?
Company,or The ComputerStore? 11. Whatwas the first nameof the inventor of
2. Only 220 examplesof this computerwere Booleanalgebra?
producedat $666.66 apiece,but they helped 12. DartmouthCollegeis famousfor manycomputer
launch a majormicrocomputercompany.What firsts. Of the following three pioneeringevents,
was the computer? which did not takeplaceat Dartmouth:the first
3. Who wrote the first book about personal remotecomputerlinkup; the first Al workshop;
computersin 1974? or the first color video terminal?
4. How long would it taketo sendthe Encyclopaedia 13. Many peoplebelievethat ENIACwas the first
Britannica over a Z-gigabitfiber-optic cable?Two electronicdigital computer,but a recentartitle in
seconds,two minutes, or twenty minutes? Scientific American claimsthis honor should
5. Heresan early exampleof a computeraccessory really go to anothercomputerpioneer.Is this per-
thats fairly commontoday.Whatis it? son Stibitz, Atanasoff,or Zuse?
14. The word modemis formedfrom what two words?
15. Is Silicon ValleySouth or North of Route128?
16. Everybodysheardof Silicon Valley Forfive points
apiece,tell us the real geographicallocations of
the following places:
a. Silicon Prairie
b. Silicon Mountain
c. Silicon ValleyNorth
d. Silicon Glen
17. In what yeardid the bytebecomestandard?1950,
1958, or 1964?
18. Wasthe first slide rule developedin 1620,1750,
or 1880?
19. A famous computerpioneerwas also an opium
addict and a gambler.Wasit Ada Lovelace,Alan
6. The letters in most software languagesform Turing, or Norbert Weiner?
acronyms.Which of the following two language 20. Ada Lovelace,of course, was the famousfriend of
namesis not an acronym?FORTRANor ADA? nineteenthcentury computer pioneerCharles
7. Forfive points apiece,well namethe people,and Babbageand a software pioneerin her ownright.
you namethe computerlanguagesthey invented: WasAda Lovelacein favor of, or against,the idea
a. Kennethlverson of artificial intelligence?
b. John Backus 21, Whatcomputer-relatedfact links Timex, Osborne
c. John McCarthy Computer,and SouthwestTechnicalProducts?
d. Niklaus Wirth 22. Whatcomputerlanguageinspired the designof
8. What hi-tech companydeterminedwhether the 18 the IBM Selectrictype ball? FORTRAN,BASIC,
minute gap in the Nixon tape was deliberate?Was or APL?
it IBM; Bolt, Beranekand Newman;or Tektronix? 23. More than iron, morethan lead, morethan gold,
9. LIFEis the nameof a well-known computergame. I needelectricity. I needit morethan I needlamb
Who won Scientific AmericansGameof LIFE or pork or lettuce or cucumber.Thatsan excerpt
contest by creatingthe first glider gun? Wasit from the first book written by a computer,entitled
Bill Gosperor DonaldKnuth? ThePoliceman3BeardIs Half Constructed.Who
10. Heresa four-part bonus round about computers is the author? Is it Eliza, Ratter, or Bard?
in the movies: 24. Whatis the purposeof the bencharoundthe
a. Forfive points, in what Disneymoviedo the Cray1 supercomputer?
main characterslive inside a computer? 25. Whatis a FLOP?
b. Whatwas the nameof the robot in the film 26. Heressomereal trivia. Well namethe time
TheDay the Earth Stood Still? Wasit Robbie, period. For five points apiece,tell us what
Gort, or Braniac? computer industry trade show is held during
c. What computerco-starredwith Robert that period:
Redfordin the film, ThreeDays of the Condor. a. January and June
a PDP-11,an Apple II, or a Grayl? b. Mid-August
d. Finally,what companyworkedwith Disneyto c. LateApril or early May

26 Communications of the ACM January 1989 Volume .32 Number 1

the audience with questions, but ran out of prepared
queries too soon. He asked spectators who the Scheutz ROUNOTWOQUESTIONS
brothers were, but found that no one knew of the 1. Whatwas the first homecomputerto sell a million
builders of Babbages Engine. There were no historians units? The Apple II, the CommodoreVIC-20,or
in the audience, he reported, Thank God St. Silicon the TRS-80?
was there. He wrote the Binary Bible and read from it. 2. Nametwo computersoftware languagesdevel-
Next time, Bell plans to vastly overestimate the number opedby industry and user committees?
of questions needed. 3. The PizzaTime restaurantchain was started by
When the satellite link was complete, the dapper Atari founder NolanBushnell. Whatwas the name
William Randolph Hearst III seated himself and pre- of PizzaTimesmouserobot?
pared to interrogate. The Western contestants bounded 4 Is RockysBootsa programto teachchildren
down the auditorium stairs and took their places be- logic, a walking robot, or a PCbootstrap
hind the dais. True to the team-spirited conviction they program?
expressed earlier, the Easterners huddled for last- 5. During WorldWar II the allies usedcomputers
minute strategizing before seating themselves. Booted to decodesecretmessageswritten by the Nazis
up and driven, both teams were ready to vie for the on machineslike this. Forten points, was this
beautiful silver bowl and the coveted title, Computer machinecalledthe Ultra, the Ace, or the Enigma?
Masters of the Universe. Who would demonstrate
the fastest memory access? Whose was more or less
random?
No sooner had the second question of the first round
been posed, did it become apparent how well-matched
the talents were: Casey Powell and Mitch Kapor slammed
down their buzzers with RISC-like parallelism and
speed. A fiery dispute arose over who was first and
ought to be called on. And a few questions later, when
Kapor correctly identified a common computer acces-
sory (Question 5), the exasperated Powell complained
that his team was at a disadvantage because it could not
hear the West coast cheering it on. As they neared the
end of the first round, the East took the lead. It would
prove easy, under such circumstances, to mis-anticipate
a question. In his eagerness to catch up, Joy interrupted
Hearst as he stated that Dartmouth College was famous
for many firsts in computing [Question 12). BASIC!
cried Joy, but his alacrity came to less than naught. Then
Kapor prevailed, correctly answering that question and
three more in a row. Miffed, Joy demanded time out, but
was refused by judge and arbiter Mike Perkowski. The
East led with 70 to 45 at the end of Round 1.
6. During WorldWar II, Churchill receivedadvance
The West showed signs of strength at the onset of
word from a decodedEnigmamessagethat the
Round 2, correctly answering what company was the Germansplannedto bomb a majorBritish city. He
first to sell one million PCs, (Question 1). But a dis-
was forced to let the attack happento keephis
gruntled team member wondered why the answer only knowledgeof enemycommunicationsa secret.
merited ten points. Then Powell demonstrated im- Whatwas the British city? Manchester,London,
pressive memory recall by correctly naming the Pizza or Coventry?
Time robot (Question 3). But the tide turned in favor of 7. The Bombeand Colossusare namesof two com-
the East as Esther Dyson practically crushed her buzzer puting devicesdevelopedduring WorldWarII.
in order to name the purpose of Rockys Boots (Question Werethey usedfor designingthe A-bomb:for
4). Then suddenly Kapor got back on his previous roll, cryptography; or for designing radar?
stunning the opposition with his expertise in what 8. Whatwas the first software companyto go public
Bill Gates did not do (Question 9), in whether or not on the NYStockExchange?
computers were mentioned in George Orwells 1984, 9. Which of the following did Bill Gatesnot do: drop
(Question ll), and finally in computer graphics pre- out of Harvard;programthe PDP-10;or havea
history (Question 20). The audience went wild, prompt- one thousand-person 25th birthday party?
ing Powell to announce that there was a phone call for 10. Who cofoundedMicrosoft along with Bill Gates?
Kapor in the lobby. But reality set in. At half-time the 11. Are computersmentionedanywherein George
scoreboard read 180 for the East and 115 for the West. Orwells 7984?
During intermission, vicious rumors circulated that (continued on page 28)
Kapor had never recovered from failing to make his

January 1989 Volume 32 Number 1 Communications ofthe ACM 27

 (continued from page 27) 25. This four-part bonus question is about peoplein
12. In 1888William Burroughswas granteda patent. the microcomputerindustry. Forfive points
Wasit for the printing adding machine,the Dif- apiece:
ferenceEngine,or the punchedcard? a. Did Ella Fitzgeraldsing at SteveJobs30th
1:3.How far can electricity travel in a nanosecond: birthday, NCCPioneersDay,or ENIAC:s40th
1.8 inches,10.8 inches, or 108inches? birthday?
14. Is CADUCEUS a high level language,a DataGen- b. Namea PCentrepreneurwho has been
eral Computer,or a medicaldiagnosisprogram? knighted.
l!i. Whatbook about computerswon a Pulitzerprize? c. Whatforeign-born computerpioneerwas hon-
16. Forfive points apiece,who wrote the following ored at the Statueof Liberty ceremonies?
books: d. What memberof the HomebrewCompleter
a. TheArt of ComputerProgramming Club had a dog namedRocky?
b. TheThirdApple 26. Is the divorce rate higher in SantaClaraCounty or
c. TheNinth BridgewaterTreatise BostonsMiddlesexCounty?
17. Whatwas the first tune generatedby a computer, 27. How much did CharlesTandypay for RadioShack
and where was it generated? in 1963?$500,000, $20 million, or nothing?
18. A rectifier changesACcurrent to DC. Whatdoes 28. In what year did a computerbegin playing check-
an inverter do? ers? 1940,1950, or 1960?
19. Wasthe Model 33 a tape drive, a teletype 29. Most government-sponsoredcomputer projects
machine,or a video terminal? are funded by the military. Whatpioneering
20. Ivan Sutherlanddescribedthe first interactive computerwas funded by the Departmentof Agri-
graphicsprogram. Whatwas it called? culture? Wasit the Atanasoffmachine,ENIAC,or
21. What is SABRE? UNIVAC?
22. What U.S. corporation bought the first industrial 30. According to John Backus,during the 1950sdid it
robot? GeneralMotors, DuPont,or Martin cost moreto programcomputers,to rent them,
Marietta? or werethe costs aboutthe same?
23. Whereis ResearchTriangle? 31. In Booleanalgebra,what is the value of 1 ORed
24. What companymarketedthe first digital watch? with l? Is it 0, 1, or IO?

The Vanquished: From the left, West Coast team mem-

bers Allen Michels, Casey Powell, David Bunnell, Bill
Joy, antd Adele Goldberg.

28 Commun.ications of the ACM Ianuay 1989 Volume 32 Number I

The Victors: From the left, East coast team members
Esther Dyson, Dick Shaffer, Mitch Kapor, David
Hathaway, and Bill Poduska.

alma maters College Bowl Team, and that all the prac- The West valiantly battled through the first half of the
ticing he did back then was kicking in now. Hes too final round, as Captain Bunnell revealed startling key-
hot. Wheres the liquid nitrogen? wondered one word search ability in his corporate name evolution
California-type. Someone suggested it was a streak of database (Question 6). And Joy rose to the occasion with
luck--the West had outperformed the East during his unblemished understanding of clean room scales
tryouts that afternoon. (Question 8). His response caused a small, white-visor-
In Round 3, the contestants displayed uneven infor- clad Sun delegation to cheer enthusiastically, thereby
mation about Big Blue; they knew the author of IBMs offering some positive feedback to the beleaguered
Billion Dollar Baby (Question 5 a), but were stumped West. A bonus round with no redeeming social merit
on the number of lines in IBMs logo (Question 5 b). whatsoever, according to Hearst, provided the West
However, since many of the contestants are entre- with the opportunity to gain a few points by matching
preneurs, they could never forget who provided the company addresses to company names; their score
seed capital to An Wang (Question 6). And like a flash- climbed to 230, against the Easts 335. But there would
ing LED, Adele Goldberg demonstrated her technical be only ten more questions with which to make a come-
smarts and resourcefulness should a magnetic tape have back. And contention could arise in the pipeline at any
to be read without a tape reader handy (Question 15). moment. Neither Michels punch card history knowl-
But the East snatched points by showing the benefits of edge, nor Joys ability to differentiate between pico-
computer-oriented dyslexia; they knew what two lan- and nano-seconds, and not even Bunnells impressive
guages read the same way backward and forward recitation of IBM and the Seven Dwarfs on the first try,
(Question 17). And the Easts Captain Shaffer blurted (Questions 12,16, and 17) could save the West. Time ran
out the only PC having a state as its namesake (Question out. The East was victorious, 365 to 310.
18). Uneven as their knowledge was of the industrys And so the first Computer Bowl was over and the
leading company, it was remarkably thorough regarding world would have to wait another two years for the
one of the greatest computer scientists. The East cor- reigning champions to be challenged. Was it a success?
rectly answered all questions pertaining to Alan Turing Said Michels, The high point of the game was all the
(Question 20 and 21 a through c), which was very grati- answers I knew, but Mitch always beat me to the buzzer.
fying to the ACM Headquarters contingent in the But the best part is raising money for the Computer
audience. That ended Round 3, with the East far ahead, Museum and the fact that computer history is being
posting 290 points to the Wests 175. taken more seriously. Its the health and growth of the

January 1989 Volume 32 Number 1 Communicationsof the ACM 29

 ROUNDTHREEQUESTIONS
1. What is the most widely installed PCoperating 10. Six months beforethe famousPopularElectronics
system? cover,anothercomputerappearedon a magazine
2. Of the following three terms, which doesnot cover.The computerwas the Mark8. Wasthe
describea type of microprocessor:CISC,RISC, magazineScientific American,ED!/, or Radio
or WISC? Electronics?
3. At what trade show was VisiCalcfirst introduced? 11. Whatmicroprocessorwas usedin the Mark8?
Comdex,the NationalComputerConference,or 12. Whatwas the first computermagazine:
the WestCoastComputerFair? Computersand Automation, Datamation,or
4. Whatwas the first computerJohn Von Neumann ComputerWorld?
used?The MARKI or the Pilot ACE? 13. Whatcomputercompanymadethe W2 Foirma
!i. The following questionsare about IBM and are reality in 1943?
worth five points apiece. 14. Whatis the term for software permanentlystored
a. Who wrote IBMs Billion Dollar Baby? in ROM?
b. How many horizontal lines makeup the IBM 15. Is there a way to reada magnetictape if you dont
logo on computerscreens?Is it 8,13, or havea tape reader?
both? 16. Are IBMs headquarterson MadisonAvenue,in
c. Finally,heresa vital question: Whereis IBMs Poughkeepsie,or in Armonk?
golf country club located: Poughkeepsie, 17. Weknow of at leasttwo high-level computer
Endicott, or Fishkill, NewYork? languageswhose namesreadthe sameway
8. Wheredid An Wangget his seedcapital to start backwardand forward. Forfive points apiece,
WangLabs?FromGeneralElectric, IBM, or the what are they?
ChaseManhattanBank? 18. Whatwas the only personalcomputerto be
7. Who raised$500 to start a companyby selling a namedafter the state in which it was produced?
version of the SpaceWarcomputergame? 19. Wasthe Whetstone,a measureof computing
8. Wasthe U.S. FestivalRockConcertsponsoredby performance,developedin the USA,the UK,
Stewart Brand, SteveWozniak,or St. Silicon? or France?
9. Somesay the personalcomputerera beganwhen 20. ComputerpioneerAlan Turing contributed to the
a microcomputerappearedon the cover of the design of one computerthat was built. Wasit
January 1975issue of PopularElectronics.Was ENIACor the Pilot ACE?
that computerthe IMSAI, the Altair, the Scelbi, or 21. Heresa three-part bonus question, also about
the Apple I? Alan Turing. Forfive points apiece:
a. Who receiveda Tonynominationfor best actor
for portraying Turing on Broadwaythis year?
Sir LawrenceOlivier, Ian McKellan,or Derek
Jacoby?
b. Whatwas the nameof the play?
c. Wheredid Turing do his researchduring his
stay in the UnitedStates?

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
ON PAGE 61.

Photography courtesy of
Bob Fields/Carousel Photographers.

30 Communications of the ACM Januay 1989 Volume 112 Number I

industry thats important to everybody. The Computer gan and a special committee, There is an overlap
Museum says it raised $175,000, and Computer Mu- between high tech types and people who know every-
seum Founding President Gwen Bell noted that it thing about baseball players. That sort of information
helped change peoples perception of the museum. It occupies the same part of the brain. To tap that in
was an event in which corporations could see value in young computer enthusiasts and get others interested,
sponsorship, so that their dollar support came out of the museum is planning a Junior Computer Bowl,
their marketing budgets, which are a lot larger than which would have an educational rather than an enter-
their contribution budgets. Thats why the museum tainment bent, with questions like, Heres an error
positioned the event as a TV show, which PBS aired as a written in the syntax of three different languages. Cor-
two-part series of The Computer Chronicles during the rect the error. Of developing both Bowls, Coit said, We
last week of October and the first week of November. The were in seed phase in 86, the first round came in 87,
museum also advertised the sponsors in magazine ads. and this is our IPO (Initial Public Offering). Both Coit
As for the lively contestants, Bell commented, A lot and Bell welcome sponsors. The partnership and I
of people in the industry are real show people. Being believe that we cannot take the supply of technically-
CEOs, you know that theyll put on a good show if oriented people for granted, said Coit. So much
theres a good cause. Said venture capitalist Stephen depends on reinforcing their career paths. The dollars
Coit, who developed many of the questions with Mor- will go toward that.

ROUNDFOURQUESTIONS
1. APL is a high-level software language.Whatdo 11. Is the largestemployerin Silicon Valleythe Air
the letters in APLstand for? Force,Lockheed,or AppleComputer?
2. Whatarcadegamestarted the computerarcade 12. Prior to their use in computers,punch cardswere
craze? usedin which of the following machines:silk
3. Whatis the nameof the government-fundedcom- weavingmachines,calculators,or drilling
puter network linking defenseresearchers.Is it machines?
Telenet,Comnet,or Arpanet? 13. This four-part bonus question is all about
4. Whatcomputerlanguageusesturtles? punchedcards. Forfive points apiece:
5. Herearethree questionsabout CP/M. Forfive a. How manycolumns doesan IBM standard
points apiece: computer punchedcard have?
a. WhatdoesCP/Mstand for? b. Whatshapearethe holes in standard
b. Who wrote it? computer-readablepunchedcards?
c. Whatcompanydid he work for at the time? c. Whenpunchedcardsfirst becamepopularin
6. Whatcompanydid KentuckyFriedComputers the 1890s they had somethingin common
eventuallybecome?Wasit Apple, Northstar with the dollar bill. Whatwas it?
Computers,or Actavision? d. Whatis the nameusedfor the tiny round piece
7. Whatwas the nameof Colecosill-fated home of papercreatedby punching papertape? Is it
computer? pulp, Chad,or fluff?
8. The miniature circuits that makeup todayscom- 14. DIPswitchesare small switchesfound inside
puters are manufacturedin so-calledclean rooms computers. Doesthe P in DIP stand for
to avoid contamination.Which is cleaner,a Class peripheral,package,or pixel?
100 clean room or a Class10 clean room? 15. What is the SlOO?
9. Herearefive bonus questionswith no redeeming 16. Is a picosecondshorter or longer than a
social merit whatsoever.Well namethe street nanosecond?
address,and for five points apiece,you tell us the 17. During the 1960sand 1970s the eight majorcom-
computercompanythats locatedthere: puter companieswere referredto jokingly as IBM
a. 590 MadisonAvenue and the sevendwarfs. Forfive points apiece,
b. 1700GreenHills Road how many of the sevendwarfs can
c. 20555 FM-149 you name?
d. 100 Throckmorton 18. Onwhat machinedid Digital EquipmentsCEOKen
e. 16011Northeast36th Way Olsenget his first computerexperience?
10. In 1921,Karl Capekusedthe Czechword for 19. Whatis the morecommonnameforthe IEEE
worker in his play,RUR. In the process,he 802.3 standard?
coined a new word. Whatwas the word?

January 1989 Volume 32 Number 1 Communications of the ACM 31

 Answersto the ComputerBowl Questions

ANSWERSTO ROUNDONE 14. Medical diagnosis program

1. The ComputerStore 15. Soul of A NewMachine, by TracyKidder
2. The Apple I computer 16. (a) DonaldKnuth
3. TedNelson(Thetitle was ComputerLib (b) Jean Louis Gassee
and DreamMachines) (c) CharlesBabbage
4. Two seconds 17. A Bicycle Built for Two (or Daisy,Daisy) at Bell Labs
5. A light pen 18. ChangesDCto AC
6. ADA 19. A teletype machine(usedas a computerterminal
7. (a) Kennethlverson in the seventies)
(b) John Backus 20. Sketchpad
(c) John McCarthy 21. AmericanAirlines computerizedticket reservationsystem
(d) Niklaus Wirth 22. GeneralMotors bought a UNIMATE1
8. Bolt, Beranekand Newman 23. In North Carolina,nearChapelHill
9. Bill Gosperat MIT 24. Hewlett-Packard
10. (a) TRON 25. (a) SteveJobs 30th birthday
(b) Gort (b) Sir CliveSinclair
(c) PDP-11 (c) An Wang
(d) Hewlett Packard (d) SteveWozniak
11. GeorgeBoole 26. SantaClaraCounty
12. The first color video terminal 27. Nothing. The companywas virtually bankruptand he agreed
13. Atanasoff to paythe bills.
14. Modulator and demodulator 28. 1950.The machinewas ManchestersMADM.
15. South 29. The Atanasoffmachine.The Departmentof Agriculture
16. (a) Dallas,Texas provided$500 for the projectduring the 1940s.
(b) ColoradoSprings, Colorado 30. About the same,accordingto John Backus
(c) Portland, Oregon 31.1
(d) Scotland
17. 1964.The 8-bit byte becamea standardwith the IBM 360
ANSWERSTO ROUNDTHREE
computer.
1. DOSor MS-DOS
18. In 1620, by William Oughtred
2. WISC.(CISCis a Complexinstruction set computerand
19. Ada Lovelace
RISCis a Reducedinstruction set computer)
20. Against
3. The WestCoastComputerFairein 1979
21. They haveall droppedout of the microcomputerbusiness.
4. The HarvardMark I, which he usedin his work at
22. APL
Los Alamos
23. Ratter
5. (a) Portia lsaacsonof FutureComputing
24. For cooling
(b) Both-there aretwo official versions
25. It standsfor FLoatingpoint Operationsper second
(c) Endicott
26. (a) ConsumerElectronicShow (CES)
6. FromIBM
(b) MacWorldBoston
7. NolanBushnell. Heusedthe moneyto start Atari.
(c) Spring COMDEX
8. SteveWozniak
9. The Altair
ANSWERSTO ROUNDTWO 10. Radio Electronics
1. The CommodoreVIC-20 11. The Intel 4004
2. ADAand COBOL 12. Computersand Automation, first publishedby Edmund
3. ChuckE. Cheese Berkeleyin 1950
4. A programto teachchildren logic 13. IBM, by supplying the governmentwith the equipmentto
5. The Enigma track witholding pay
6. Coventry 14. Firmware
7. For cryptography 15. Yes,by using a specialmagneticpowderor liquid
8. Cullinet Software in 1978 16. Armonk, NewYork
9. Havea one thousand-person 25th birthday party 17. ADAand C
10. PaulAllen 18. Ohio Scientific Challenger
11. No 19. The UK
12. The Printing Adding Machine 20. The Pilot ACE
13. 10.8 inches (continued on p. 247)

January 1989 Volume 32 Number I Communications of the ACM 61