It’s Time to Play Mac Jeopardy!

By Gar, DataPak Software

About the author

Gar, alias Gary Crandall, is Vice President of Technology at DataPak Software. Since 1984, Gar has written more than 1.25 million lines of code in more than 25 working Macintosh applications including the highly successful WordSolution Engine products used in hundreds of Mac applications by developers worldwide.

To Play

After you’ve had it with that Mac, after a grueling day of grinding on that project you are already three weeks behind on, take a break and play Mac Jeopardy! See how many questions you can get right.

First, find a few friends who wish to be contestants; then find someone to play “Alex”. Start picking categories and dollar amounts and have the answers read - you must guess the question. The correct questions are below.

Go To Market

$100

Though he has never written one line of code, he is considered a software design expert.

$200

It ships frequently after the first product release.

$300

Only magazines make money with these.

$400

Thousands of users are beta testers of this.

$500

The best advertising campaign of all time cannot guarantee these.

Bits & Bytes

$100

Although it has more cost, more memory and more features, an upgrade does not have this.

$200

Developers write for this but are themselves its only customers.

$300

It is the least expensive software available today.

$400

There is virtually no end to this.

$500

It is considered the computer industry’s main contribution to pornography.

Software Dreams

$100

Mac users are convinced it is part of system ROM.

$200

He writes useful software that everyone wants, without bugs.

$300

As a Mac programmer, you are damned if you do or don’t with these.

$400

The Mac hasn’t seen one for years.

$500

No software developer has ever made one of these.

Macintosh Celebrities

$100

Although a billionaire from consumer software, he still has not learned Macintosh.

$200

They are world-famous as Apple’s toughest competitor.

$300

Some magazines cater to these, although they are non-existent.

$400

Peter, Paul and Mary sang about this aspect of modern tech support.

$500

Although it ships with every software package, users have still never seen one.

Final Jeopardy

OK, now wager any amount of your winnings for FINAL JEOPARDY!. The category is “Family Frolic”. Write down the question that matches this answer; have a friend sing the Jeopardy jingle and good luck!

Sharing the same family name, both of these men have also announced their share of strike-outs.

Questions

Go To Market

$100: What is a reviewer?

$200: What are upgrades? (Also acceptable: What are new versions?)

$300: What are advertisements?

$400: What is version 1.0 (of any software)?

$500: What are sales?

Bits & Bytes

$100: What is speed? (Also acceptable: What is performance?)

$200: What is the Quadra?

$300: What is piracy?

$400: What is a memory upgrade?

$500: What is QuickTime?

Software Dreams

$100: What is MS Word?

$200: Who is God?

$300: What are Apple Human Interface Guidelines?

$400: What is a new idea (or what is an innovative idea)?

$500: What is a deadline?

Macintosh Celebrities

$100: Who is Bill Gates?

$200: Who is Apple Computer?

$300: What are power users?

$400: What is “Blowing in the Wind”?

$500: What is a User’s Manual (or What is a User’s Guide)?

Final Jeopardy

Who are Vin Scully and John Sculley?