1 Telecom Trivia v4.9 Ken Myers. 2©2009 HP Confidential2 Originally operators were boys, why did the bell system switch to Women?? Boys were rude to customers

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Telecom Trivia v4.9Ken Myers

2 ©2009 HP Confidential2

Originally operators were boys, why did the bell system switch to Women??

Boys were rude to customers


What did the chief engineer of the British Post office say when he heard of the invention of the telephone?

When news of Alexander Graham Bell's invention reached the United Kingdom, the chief engineer of the British Post Office failed to be impressed. "The Americans," he said loftily, "have need of the telephone — but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys..."


What company was the predecessor to Lucent originally associated with?

Hint: Not AT&T

Answer: Western Union

Second Hint, an earlier name for Lucent was:


What was Almon Brown Strowger The inventor of the Automatic Telephone Exchange Profession?

Answer: Undertaker


What does Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc have to do with the Communications Industry?

Answer: In 1998 it bought ITT Corporation, which owned Sheraton Hotels, ITT originally was called International Telephone and Telegraph it’s original business was providing phone service and manufacturing telephone equipment, before becoming one of the first conglomerates.


In what country was the first long distance telephone call made?

Hint: Not in the USA

Answer: Canada. The first long distance telephone call was made between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, a distance of seven miles, on August 10, 1876. Because the message was routed through Toronto, however, it and actually traveled a total distance of 68 miles.


Where was Alexander Graham Bell Born and Where is he Buried??

Hint: If you guessed the USA for either you are wrong!

Answer: Scotland, Canada


What was the original cost of a 5 minute call from the US to London in 1927?

9 Ken Myers

Answer: $75!


What was Nortel Networks Original Name?

Hint: Nortel Networks was originally a subsidiary of AT&T’s equipment arm

Answer: Northern Electric


HP Started in a Garage, where did Lars Magnus Ericsson start his company?

Answer: In Rented Kitchen in Stockholm in 1876!


What was Werner von Siemens first product?

A pointer Telegraph


Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific inventor, besides the telephone what are some of the other inventions he worked on?

Hydrofoils: HD-1, HD-2, HD-3, HD-4

Tetrahedral Box Kites, the Cygnet I,II,III

Powered Flight: the Silver Dart, etc.

Photophone, a phone using the sun as a light source to transmit sound without wires

With HD-4 Sets world speed record of 70.86MPH in 1919


Marconi, credited with being the father of Wireless made the first transatlantic wireless transmission between what two locations?

Poldhu Cove Cornwall and Signal Hill Newfoundland a distance of over 2000 miles

Marconi’s first wireless apparatus


What was Lucent’s original Name?

Answer: Grey and Barton (the same Grey who Alexander Graham Bell beat to the Patent office)

Hint: Lucent had an earlier name before


Who was HP’s first customer in the Telecommunications Industry

Bell Labs, that bought two of every product HP Made

Bonus Points: Who was another early customer?

Western Union


Nokia has been a lot of business since it’s founding in 1865. Which of the follow was not a former business of Nokia?Forest Products

Paper Manufacturing

GaloshesTires

FootwearRubber bands

RaincoatsPower Cables

Television SetsIT Products

Trick Question: All are actually former businesses!!


What did early Bell System operators use to increase their speed when connecting calls?

Answer: Roller Skates!


What is the relationship between AT&T and the movies until 1956?

Answer: Western Electric Sound, among other things...Answer: Western Electric Sound, among other things...


What is this?

The Garage where Apple Computer Inc. was born. Steve Wozniak assembled Apple computers for his friends, and one of those friends, Steve Jobs, decided they could be sold to more than just friends.


Where was the first CDMA based cellular communications system deployed?

Answer: Korea


In what decade did the last manual exchange go out of service in the US?

Answer: 1970s! (The last went out of service in Maine in 1975)


Where and when was the Fax Machine Developed?

In Italy by Giovanni Caselli in 1865! (Called the Pantelegraph, first went into service between Lyon and Paris and Paris and Le Havre in 16th Feb 1865)


What was the name of the first communication satellite

Answer: Telstar Launched in 1962


What was BT’s original name?

Answer: General Post Office

Bonus Points: When did BT start using the name British Telecom?

Answer: 1980


What does Arthur C.Clark, noted Science Fiction Author of 2001 have to do with Communications?

Answer: He invented the Communications Satellite in 1945!


What city in the US has the highest Teledensity?

Hint: this city’s teledensity has been over 100 at least since the early 1980s

Washington


What country in the Americas has had the highest penetration of Digital switching since the early 90’s

Hint: If you guessed the US you’re wrong!

Answer: Chile


When and where was the first car phone call made?

Answer: Lars Magnus Ericsson after he retired around 1910 had a crank telephone in his car that his wife Hilda would clip into an available pair and then he would make calls from the countryside


When was the first wireless phone call made?

Answer: On February 22,1880 Alexander Graham Bell and his cousin Charles Bell communicated over the Photophone, a remarkable invention conceived of by Bell and executed by Sumner Tainter. This device transmitted voice over a light beam.


The International Telecommunications Union Standards body is know as ITU-T, what was it’s former name?

Answer: CCITT


What was the Telemanagement Forum’s original name?

Answer: Network Management Forum


When was the first SPAM message sent on the Internet?

Answer: May 1978

What Company Sent the first SPAM Message?

Digital Equipment Corporation


What was IBM’s original name?

Computing Tabulating Recording Co. (C-T-R)


What company did Thomas J. Watson Sr work at before IBM?

National Cash Register (NCR)


What was the name of DEC’s first computer

In 1962 at MIT a PDP-1 becomes the first computer to run a video game when Steve Russell programs it to play "Spacewar."

Introduced in 1960 for the science and engineering market. Not including software or peripherals, the system costs $125,000, fits in a corner of a room, and doesn’t require air conditioning. Operated by one person, it features a cathode-ray tube display and a light pen.

PDP 1

Bonus points: What is the PDP-1 Famous for in computing history?


ENIAC the first Electronic Computer

What does ENIAC stand for?

ENIAC weighs 30 tons and includes 18,000 vacuum tubes, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays.

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)

Bonus Points: What was ENIAC originally used for?

Ballistics calculations for the US Army


What was the cost per word for the first successful Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable?

$5 per Word!!

The first successful cable was completed in 1858 after several failed attempts that began in 1854, it was inaugurated into service by Queen Victoria talking to President Buchanan August 28, 1858.

Cyrus W. Fields the man behind the first successful Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable


Who are these people?

Apple I

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founders of Apple


Who is this person??

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the WW Web

Bonus points: Where did Tim Berners-Lee work when he invented the WWW?

CERN


How did Sprint Corporation get it’s name?

GTE bought SPCC from Southern Pacific. Meanwhile United Telecommunications started up their IXC called US Tel. In the mid 1980s GTE and United merged their operations to become US Sprint. GTE eventually sold out their interest to United Tel. United eventually shortened the name to Sprint and eventually changed the name of the entire company to Sprint.

The Sprint name originates from Southern Pacific Communications Corp (SPCC) an IXC set up by the Southern Pacific Railroad and utilizing microwave transmission systems set up along their right of way. They named their LD offering Sprint.

Bonus points: how are GTE and United Telecommunications related to Sprint?


Where did SUN Microsystems name come from?

– SUN originally comes from the Stanford University Network and the original SUN workstation designed by Andy Bechtolsheim while at Stanford university. He later helped found SUN Microsystems along with Scott McNealy


What was Reuters first business?

– Reuters was founded in1851 by Paul Julius Reuter, a German-born immigrant, who set up an office in the City of London to send share price quotes to Paris via the new Dover-Calais telegraph cable.

– Bonus points what type of service did he replace?

– Stock quotes by Carrier pigeons


What was Reuters Great news scoop in 1865?

– After 12 days crossing the Atlantic, a Reuters report of the assassination of President Lincoln reaches London first, throwing European financial markets into turmoil. Reuter intercepted the mail boat off Ireland and telegraphed the news to London

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1 Telecom Trivia v4.9 Ken Myers. 2©2009 HP Confidential2 Originally operators were boys, why did the bell system switch to Women?? Boys were rude to customers