SASTT 2016 FALL JOURNAL
**ANSWERS HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE**
1. What year was the world’s first mobile phone handset released for sale?
a) 1979
b) 1983
c) 1991
d) 2001
First-generation analogue systems started in 1979 in Japan, but the first commercially available mobile phone
handset didn’t appear until 1983 in the US. It weighed over 750g, measured 300x44x89mm and cost nearly $4,000
US. Second-generation digital systems such as GSM and CDMA started in 1991 in Finland. 3G systems first became
available in Japan in 2001.
2. On average, how many SMS messages are sent via mobile phone per phone user every day?
a) 0.5
b) 4.0
c) 2.5
d) 5.5
Text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet. Over 1.8 billion people actively use SMS and
sent over 2.5 messages per day to over 3 billion mobile phones worldwide in September 2007. The first SMS was
sent in 1991, while the first person-to-person SMS from phone to phone was sent in Finland in 1993.
3. Who designed the “first” small computer for home use?
a) John Blankenbaker
b) Steve Wozniak
c) Chuck Peddle
d) Steve Leininger
According to the Computer History Museum, the world’s first computer small enough to be used at home was the
Kenbak-1 designed by John Blankenbaker in 1970. The next development in computing was the invention of the
mircoprocessor in the early 70s and the release of MIT’s Altair 8800 in 1975. But neither of these machines
resembled what we know as a personal computer today. They only had 256 bytes of memory, did not have a screen
or keyboard and were used for basic programming using toggle switches. Personal computers did not become
commercially successful until 1977, when Steve Wozniak developed the Apple 11, Chuck Peddle the Commodore PET
and Steve Leininger the TRS-80. With video monitors, keyboards and basic data storage, these are the ancestors of
the computers we use today.
4. When was the first email sent over the internet?
a) 1961
b) 1965
c) 1971
d) 1988
While researchers at MIT discovered the possibility of leaving messages on a shared computer as early as 1961, it
wasn’t until 1971 that the first email was sent between computers by Ray Tomlinson across ARPANET, the early
version of the internet.
5. When was the internet created?
a) 1968
b) 1972
c) 1982
d) 1995
The US Defense Force commissioned a computer network for its think tank ARPRA in 1968, called ARPRAnet. This
was publicly demonstrated in 1972. In 1982 the TCP/IP protocol was adopted, allowing all the different networks
using the ARPRAnet model to communicate with each other. The term “internet” didn’t become official until 1995.
6. The World Wide Web was created in...
a) 1968
b) 1972
c) 1989
d) 1992
The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee and scientists at CERN. However, it was not made
publicly available until 1992. While we often refer to the terms interchangeably, the World Wide Web (WWW) is
different to the internet. The WWW refers to a collection of text, audio and video files that are connected by links
and URLs, while the internet refers to a collection of computer networks that can deliver services such as the WWW,
email, chat, etc.
7. Colour TV was first broadcast in Australia in...
a) 1930
b) 1941
c) 1956
d) 1975
While colour television was first broadcast in the United States in 1941, it was not broadcast in Australia until 1975.
8. What percentage of Australian households have digital TV?
a) 28%
b) 42%
c) 62%
d) 80%
While the take up of digital television has more than doubled since 2005, still only just over two out of five Australian
households – 42% - received digital TV as of the end of 2007. In the United Kingdom, 80% of households receive
digital TV.
9. Which gases form the plasma in plasma TVs?
a) neon & hydrogen
b) helium & oxygen
c) neon & xenon
d) xenon & hydrogen
Neon and xenon are noble gases – stable, inert gases. In plasma televisions they are trapped in tiny cells between
two panels of glass. When you turn the TV on these gases are electrically stimulated and form a plasma – an ionized
gas with free electrons – and emit ultraviolet photons. These photons excite phosphorus which coats the cells the
gases are trapped in, to produce red, green or blue coloured light.
10. When did DVDs replace the VHS video cassette in popularity in the US?
a) 1993
b) 1997
c) 2003
d) 2006
The DVD was invented in 1993, and became commercially available in the United States in 1997. By 2003 the DVD
became more popular than VHS videos in the United States. By 2006 most major film studios had stopped releasing
movies in VHS format.