A lot can happen in two decades. To celebrate the end of 2004—the 20th-anniversary year of the Mac—we tapped Owen W. Linzmayer, the author of Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Colorful Company (No Starch Press, 2004), to stump you with 20 tricky trivia questions.
So get your pencils ready and keep your eyes on your own work. Our 20th anniversary quiz starts now. And when you’ve finished, click to the next page —no peaking now—to see how your Mac knowledge measures up.
1. What was the first product Apple cofounders Steve Wozniak and Steve Job sold together?
2. When did Macintosh revenue first surpass that of the venerable Apple II product line?
3. When did Steve Jobs first become a billionaire?
4. To what was Roger Heinen, manager of Mac software architecture at Apple, referring when he said, “All the MBAs in the world can’t convince us it’s a good model”?
5. On what computer did the proprietary Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) make its debut?
6. Who was not sued by Apple?
7. Whom did Apple pay for rights to use the Macintosh name for its computer?
8. What was the nature of the $5,000 bet Steve Jobs and Lisa product manager John Couch made in 1981?
9. How did former Apple CEO Gil Amelio respond when asked, “If you were going to prescribe a medicine for Apple, what would it be?”
10. About whom was Jef Raskin, “the father of the Macintosh project,” speaking when he said, “He would have made an excellent king of France”?
11. What was Compaq’s vice president of corporate development Robert W. Stearns talking about when he said, “They are smoking dope. There’s no way it’s going to work”?
12. About whom was software wizard Andy Hertzfeld speaking when he said, “He was a total poseur”?
13. Which of the following was not designed by Jonathan Ive, now Apple’s vice president of industrial design?
14. Who or which of the following did not sue Apple?
15. To what was former Apple software evangelist Guy Kawasaki referring when he said, “Medicine will cure death and government will repeal taxes before Steve [Jobs] will fail. You can quote me”?
16. Which of the following quotes was not uttered by feisty Frenchman Jean-Louis Gassée?
17. Who said, “If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth—and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”?
18. To what was Apple’s director of Mac platform marketing Michael Mace referring when he said “[It] is the most overhyped product in the history of the PC industry”?
19. What did Apple CEO John Sculley predict in 1992 would become a $3 trillion market by the beginning of the 21st century?
20. Complete this quote by Apple CEO Michael Spindler: “If anybody makes a Mac cheaper than we do from a cost standpoint, with our volume of a couple million machines…”
Ready to see how you fared with our 20th anniversary quiz? The answers to each question are below, highlighted in bold type. Give yourself a point for each correct answer.
1. What was the first product Apple cofounders Steve Wozniak and Steve Job sold together?
2. When did Macintosh revenue first surpass that of the venerable Apple II product line?
3. When did Steve Jobs first become a billionaire?
4. To what was Roger Heinen, manager of Mac software architecture at Apple, referring when he said, “All the MBAs in the world can’t convince us it’s a good model”?
5. On what computer did the proprietary Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) make its debut?
6. Who was not sued by Apple?
7. Whom did Apple pay for rights to use the Macintosh name for its computer?
8. What was the nature of the $5,000 bet Steve Jobs and Lisa product manager John Couch made in 1981?
9. How did former Apple CEO Gil Amelio respond when asked, “If you were going to prescribe a medicine for Apple, what would it be?”
10. About whom was Jef Raskin, “the father of the Macintosh project,” speaking when he said, “He would have made an excellent king of France”?
11. What was Compaq’s vice president of corporate development Robert W. Stearns talking about when he said, “They are smoking dope. There’s no way it’s going to work”?
12. About whom was software wizard Andy Hertzfeld speaking when he said, “He was a total poseur”?
13. Which of the following was not designed by Jonathan Ive, now Apple’s vice president of industrial design?
14. Who or which of the following did not sue Apple?
15. To what was former Apple software evangelist Guy Kawasaki referring when he said, “Medicine will cure death and government will repeal taxes before Steve [Jobs] will fail. You can quote me”?
16. Which of the following quotes was not uttered by feisty Frenchman Jean-Louis Gassée?
17. Who said, “If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth—and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”?
18. To what was Apple’s director of Mac platform marketing Michael Mace referring when he said “[It] is the most overhyped product in the history of the PC industry”?
19. What did Apple CEO John Sculley predict in 1992 would become a $3 trillion market by the beginning of the 21st century?
20. Complete this quote by Apple CEO Michael Spindler: “If anybody makes a Mac cheaper than we do from a cost standpoint, with our volume of a couple million machines…”
So how’d you do?
0-2 Points
Terrible. Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. And after such a miserable showing on this test, you deserve to repeat the Amelio years.
3-8 Points
Below Average. You can probably tell the Two Steves apart. But there was life in Cupertino prior to the iMac, you know.
9-12 Points
Solid. You can walk onto the show floor at any Macworld Expo with your head held high.
12-15 Points
Great. You’re the kind of person who probably has no trouble at all rattling off all the different iMac flavors. (And if you aren’t—Bondi blue; strawberry; blueberry; lime; grape; tangerine; indigo; ruby; sage; snow; graphite; Blue Dalmatian; and Flower Power.)
16-19 Points
Insanely Great. We couldn’t have stumped you, even if we asked you to recite Big Brother’s speech from the “1984” ad.
20 Points
Perfect. Perhaps a little too perfect. Are you sure you didn’t click ahead to copy down the answers? If you did, there’s probably a job waiting for you at Micorsoft in OS development.
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