They usually play basketball on this court, though it doesn't look very much like it right
now. That's because there's a very special game being played on these boards tonight,
the Computer Bowl All-Star Game. The best and the brightest of computer techies from
around the country will be here for the National Championship of Computer Trivia. Bill Gates,
Bill Joy, Mitch Caper, Andy Grove, an all-star cast of computer celebrities will be here
for the Computer Bowl All-Star Game on this special edition of the Computer Chronicles.
Computer Chronicles is made possible in part by the Software Publishers Association, providers
of educational materials to help manage software. Don't copy that floppy. And by Hewlett-Packard,
Personal Computer Division.
Welcome to the Computer Bowl All-Star Game, again presented by the Association for Computing
Machinery. We're here at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in Vias Satellite in Redmond, Washington,
Boston, Massachusetts. It's halftime at the Computer Bowl, and the score after two rounds
of play, and listen to me carefully, is West Coast 80, East Coast 70. There was a mistake
in the scoring in the first half, and the East Coast got credit for a question which
they didn't answer. We've checked with both official scorers. The score is correct. It's
West Coast 80, East Coast 70, okay? All right, for those of you who missed the first half
of the Computer Bowl, let me reintroduce our two all-star teams. Beginning with the East
Coast, from Foundation Technologies Limited, Neil Colvin, Bob Frankston of Microsoft, the
captain of the East Coast team, Mitch Kapoor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, author
and historian, Pamela McCordick, and David Nelson of Novell Multimedia. Now, for the
West Coast all-stars, Bill Gates of Microsoft, computer consultant Jeff Kalb, the captain
of the West Coast team, Bill Joy from Sun Microsystems, David Liddell of Interval Research
Corporation, and Harry Sahl of Smart Valley Incorporated. Our referees again tonight are
Charlie Bachman, John Doerr, Pat McGovern, Heidi Roizen, and John Shaw. And once again,
our official examiner for this all-star game, from the Intel Corporation, Dr. Andrew Grove.
All right, the West is ahead by 10 points, 80 to 70. Andy, let's get going with our first
10-point question. Okay, if you are a movie trivia buff, you probably know the phrase
Klaatu Barada Niktu. David Liddell, West Coast. David? What was the question he's thinking?
In the day the Earth stood still, the robot Gort was summoned by those words. That's a
lot of nice stuff, but it's not the right answer. Let's repeat the question for the
East Coast and complete it. If you are a movie trivia buff, you probably know the phrase,
I don't know if I can say it the same way twice, Klaatu Barada Niktu. That phrase, in
fact, appeared in two sci-fi movies. Can you name both of them? How good are you? That
phrase was seen in two science fiction movies. You might have a guess as to what one of them
was. I've got to call time here. Yes, yes, okay. It was, of course, in the day the Earth
stood still, and it was in Tron. Those words appeared on the blackboard of a programmer
in the movie Tron. All right, let's go on to the next question. These are tough. This
is the All-Star Game, guys. In 1993, a front-page New York Times article reported that a Long
Island computer programmer named Michael LaFaro used a novel technique to persuade one of
his clients to pay a past-due consulting bill. What...
David Liddell, West Coast.
David?
He caused his program to stop working until the bill was paid.
One more shot. Be more specific. I'll give you a second try. What did he do to get his
client to pay the bill? I need it quickly, Dave. That's as far as you can go. I think
we've got to turn it over to the East Coast. I'm sorry. Anybody like to take a shot on
the East Coast? Bob Frankston, East Coast.
The program was supposed to stop functioning as of a given date. The newspapers referred
to it as a virus, but that wasn't a necessary correct term. Yeah, I think we've got it now,
right? That's it, exactly. He put a virus in his client's computer and it would stop
working at a certain date. Okay, that's it. Bonus round. All right, a bonus round, indeed.
It's time for the East Coast. Okay, the score, let's see. It is now 80 to 80. We have a tie
ball game. 80 to 80. I don't know why people are hissing. That was fair and square. All
right, the category is online services. The information superhighway, okay? Three questions,
ten points apiece. Last year, one of the major online services was acquired by an international
media magnet. Which service, which media magnet? It was Delphi and it was acquired by Rupert
Murdoch. Absolutely right. Ten points for the East. All right, you guys are ahead now.
Last chance to get ten points. The current presidential administration in Washington
has strongly identified itself with the information superhighway. In fact, you can email President
Clinton on the internet. What is the president's address on the internet? It's president at
whitehouse.gov. You got it, ten points. Okay. A shot at ten more points now in this bonus
question. What or who are Archie and Veronica? Archie and Veronica are? They're internet
protocols that are used for... Archie is used to tell you the location that particular files
are stored at FTP and Veronica does the same thing for Gopher. I think we got it, guys,
right? All right, another ten points. That was a big one. The East Coast is now ahead
110, 80 for the West. Next toss-up question, Andy. The ENIAC is a legendary computer in
the history of computing. In what year was the ENIAC first turned on? David Nelson, East
Coast. David? 1946. Boy, that's good. All right, ten points again. Well done. Next toss-up
question. Doug Engelbart is credited with designing the first computer mouse. How many
buttons were there on that mouse? David Liddell, West Coast. David? There were three. There
sure were. That's worth ten points. All right, we've got a prop now for this next question.
I'm going to hold this thing up. Let me hold it for a second to make sure our cameras can
get a look at it. And then, Andy, you can ask the question. Can you identify this important
computer artifact? David Nelson, East Coast. David? It's an Ethernet tap. All right, ten
points for the East. Thank you. The Victor 9000 computer featured an innovative design
in its disk drives. What was unique? Neil Colvin, East Coast. Variable speed. Very good.
Variable speed disk drive. That is an innovation. Bonus round. Time for the West Coast. The
score, let's see. It is 110... 140, I'm sorry, to 90. You guys need 30 points right now,
I would think. All right, a chance to earn 30 points and get back into this game. The
category is software. We've got a fighting chance. Chance to earn 30 points. Here's the
first question. Intel... Andy, you'll have to check me on this. Did you say software?
That's the question. Listen. Intel entered the software market this year with its first
ever end user PC software product. What was it? What's it called? Worth ten points. Intel's
first end user PC product. ProShare. ProShare is right. Andy? Okay, ten points. All right,
here's the second question. A US software company recently received the first ever copyright
for a computer program that generates type fonts. What's the name of the company that
got that copyright? Worth another ten points in this bonus round. Try to catch up to those
East Coast guys. The company? Adobe. Adobe is right. Another ten points. You guys are
good. All right, here's another shot. Now, last one. What was the internal code name
for Borland's Quattro spreadsheet? What was the internal code name for Borland's Quattro
spreadsheet? Worth another ten points. I have to ask you for an answer, Bill. I need an
answer, Bill. Now, now, now. Trio. No, I'm afraid not. It was Buddha because it was going
to assume the lotus position. That's the right answer. All right, the score is East Coast
140, West Coast 110. Next toss-up question. The market research firm Computer Intelligence
released a report on the most popular brands of IBM compatible PCs in the United States
in 1993. It reported that IBM had the largest market share and Compaq was second. Which
computer company came in third? Dell. Sorry. Dell Computer. That is wrong, I'm afraid.
Let's go to the East Coast. IBM, Compaq, and who would like to give it a shot? The other
David. Tandy. That's not correct either. The answer is Zenith. Zenith was third. Next question.
In 1976, a computer fair was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At that show, Steve Jobs
ripped his blue jeans. Another attendee came to his rescue and sued him up. Bob Frankston,
East Coast. Bob, what's the answer? Dottie Veets. I'm sorry, say again? Dottie Veets,
Stan Veets' wife. That's correct. No, no, wait. Is that correct? The wife. Okay. The
answer is the wife of Veets. Yes. Is that right? There's a little... No, it's not. We're
close but not quite right, so the answer's wrong. All right, he said the wife of Stan
Veets, correct? We're a little confused here. Stan Veets. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Bob,
give me the full answer. I said Dottie Veets, the wife of Stan Veets. And that is not the
correct answer, so we'll give a shot over here and Bill has rung his buzzer. Bill, what
do you think? His jeans were... The holes in his jeans were sewed by the wife of Paul
Veets. Are we there? We're getting close. Who is Paul Veets? We think that might be
right if you could tell us who Paul Veets is. Tell me who Paul Veets is. It's the mother
of the guy who wrote the book. Right, that's it. Yeah, right. Stan Veets' mother-in-law
is the answer. Okay. Well done. Ten points for the West. Time. All right, we're out of
time. That is the end of... Yes? It's the mother-in-law. Paul Veets would not be the
mother-in-law. Hold it. It's the mother-in-law, not the mother. Mother-in-law. Paul Veets'
wife would be the mother and it's the mother-in-law, we believe. So they're both wrong. So they
both answers are wrong, you're telling me. Right. Right, both are wrong. Good try, guys.
Take away those ten points from the West. Let's get rid of this question. No, get rid
of that question. It was too darn complicated to begin with. Doesn't matter, guys. At the
end of round three, the score is still East Coast 140, West Coast 110. We'll be right
back. Okay, welcome back. This is it, guys. The fourth quarter, the last round of the
Computer Bowl All-Star Game. The score right now is the East Coast 140, the West Coast
110. This is it. The last shot. Let's go to a toss-up question, Andy. In 1963, Tandy bought
Radio Shack. How many stores were in the Radio Shack chain at that time? Was it nine, 15,
26, or 42? Bill Gates, West Coast. Bill? Nine. Nine is the right answer. That's ten. There
were several consumer-oriented online services available today, but one of the original online
services, online systems, was CompuServe. In what year did CompuServe first go online?
Was it 1969, 1971, or 1974? David Nelson, East Coast. What do you think, David? 1969.
That's the right answer for ten points. Bonus round. All right, it's time for a bonus round.
The East Coast is ahead 150 to 120, and it's your turn, East Coast, for a bonus round.
You can stretch that lead. This could be putting it away. The category is computer industry
personalities. Three questions, ten points apiece. IBM has often been known as a company
that tries very hard to protect its trade secrets. That policy apparently applies to
people, too. When Lewis Gerstner was among the final nominees for the top job at Big
Blue, he was given an internal code name. What was the code name? Was it Able, Little
Blue, Cyber Kid, or Blackbird? What was Lewis Gerstner's code name when he was one of the
final candidates at IBM? Blackbird. That's not correct, I'm afraid. Able. The answer
is Able. All right, here's another shot, another ten points. Who is generally credited with
having coined the term virtual reality? Jaron Lanier. Right for ten points, Jaron Lanier.
Another shot at ten points. Scott Page is one of the founders of Seventh Level, a company
which sells interactive multimedia entertainment software. At one time, Scott Page played saxophone
for a popular rock group. Which group? Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd is right, another ten points.
All right, you guys picked up the lead here. The East Coast, 170, West Coast, 120. All
right, here's your chance, guys. We're running out of time. Andy, go. The New York Times
was one of the first newspapers to switch from hot type to computerized typesetting.
The first computer typeset edition hit the stands on July 2nd of what year? Pamela McCordick,
West Coast. Pam? 1980. That is not correct. Anybody from the West Coast like to take a
shot? Bill Joy, West Coast. Bill? 1979. One more, it was 1978, I'm afraid. That was a
tough one. All right, let's try another ten point question. Parts of a famous historical
computer have appeared on television in the sci-fi series Time Tunnel and Lost in Space.
What machine was it? What famous computer was on Time Tunnel and Lost in Space? Parts
of it anyhow. Anybody want to give it a try? A famous historical computer on two sci-fi
TV shows. Bill? West Coast. Univac. That's not correct. Anybody want to take a shot at
least? Pam wants to try it. Pam? The Stretch. No. The answer was the Sage. The Sage. All
right, let's try another ten point question, Andy. Among the many acronyms in the computer
field is this one, FTP. What? David Liddell, West Coast. FTP, David, it stands for? File
Transfer Protocol. Sure does, ten points. What was the first... Hold it, hold it, that's
the bonus round noise, Andy. Bonus round. The score is 170 for the East, 130 for the
West. It's a 40 point spread. You can make 30 points right now, guys. This is it. This
is the last bonus round. The category is computer games. Here's your first chance at ten points.
Sega is now the dominant company in 16-bit video game units in the United States. The
name Sega is an acronym. What does Sega stand for? Why is Sega called Sega? Or Sega? I need
an answer, gentlemen. Pretty quick. Sega stands for? Strategic Electronic Games. No, good
idea, but Service Games, believe it or not. Service Games is where Sega got its name.
All right, we got two more shots here. Another ten points. When Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney
started Atari Corporation in 1972, they each coughed up an equal amount of money. How much
did they each put up, and I can just take it in figures, was it three figures, four
figures, or five figures? How much did Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney put up to start Atari
back in 1972? Was there an individual investment in three figures, four figures, or five figures?
Three. That's right. Two hundred and fifty bucks a piece. Good guess. All right, ten
more points now. In 1990, a computer beat a world chess champion for the very first
time. Can you name the computer and the chess master who got beat by it? This was 1990,
the first time a computer beat a world chess master. I need the two who played in the game,
the computer and the person. Deep Thought, Nigel Short. I'm afraid not. The computer
was Mephisto, and the chess player was Anatoly Karpov. Tough one. All right, the score is
170-140 right now, favor the East Coast. All right, let's get back to toss-up questions.
What was the first commercially available computer with a 12-bit word? David Liddell,
West Coast. David? Digital PDP-8. That's not the right answer, so we'll go to the East
Coast and finish the question. Go ahead. Was it the DEC PDP-8, the PDP-5, the LINC, or
the CDC-160? David Nelson, East Coast. David? CDC-160. That's the right answer. Ten more
points for the East. In 1993, Christie's auctioned off a computing artifact that went for $11.8
million. What was it? Your choice is a Greek calendar computer from the year 80 BC, a mechanical
calculator from the 19th century, or a vacuum tube assembly from the ENIAC. Pamela McCordick,
East Coast. What was it, Pamela? It was a 19th century computer. It sure was. It was
from 1822, a mechanical calculator by Johann Christoph Schuster. All right, next question.
U.S. News & World Report recently asked engineering school deans to rank graduate schools to see
which one had the best program in computer engineering. Who came in number one? Was it
Stanford, Carnegie Mellon... Mitchell, Cape Horn, East Coast. Carnegie Mellon. That is
not the correct answer. Finish reading the question, and West gets a shot at it. Caltech,
or MIT? Which of those four came in first in a ranking as to who was the best school for
computer engineering? Need an answer quick. Bill Joy, West Coast. Bill, what do you think? Stanford.
No, that's not right. The answer was MIT. We got some grads here. All right, go ahead, Andy. One
of the earliest spreadsheet programs was called SORCIM. Who wrote it? David Liddell, West Coast.
David? The spreadsheet from SORCIM was written by Richard Frank. That's right for 10 points.
Time. Music means we're out of time for the fourth round. We're out of time for the computer
bowl. It's all over. The East Coast wins 190 to 150. The winner and world champion is the East
Coast. Congratulations to our winners. Thanks to all of our contestants and to all of you for
joining us for this computer bowl all-star game. Also, special thanks to the Computer Museum of
Boston, the Association for Computing Machinery, Intel Corporation, Computer World Magazine,
all the sponsors and underwriters who made this event possible. For those of you watching on
television, that's it for this special edition of the Computer Chronicles. Good night to all of you.
Computer Chronicles is made possible in part by the Software Publishers Association,
providers of educational materials to help manage software. Don't copy that
floppy. And by Hewlett Packard, Personal Computer Division. Video cassette copies
of this program are available. Computer Chronicles also publishes a companion newsletter containing
details on products demonstrated and information on program topics. To order a video cassette or a
newsletter, call 1-800-799-4949 or write Computer Chronicles. Please specify program subject for
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definitive guide to keeping your organization's software legal.