Origin of Computer Terms Trivia Quiz

Answer: bit

The word 'bit' has been around since 1947. Today, we usually don't concern ourselves with bits. Instead, we normally encounter megabytes and gigabytes, approximately equal to 8 million bits and 8 billion bits, respectively.

Answer: bug

The common story on the origin of 'bug', to mean a computer error, is usually attributed to a programmer finding a moth flying around inside the massive computers of the late 1940s. However, it had been in use since the late 1870s to refer to problems with any new invention.

Answer: computer

The word computer has been around since the mid-1600s, meaning somebody who performs mathematical calculations. It wasn't until the 1940s that computer began to exclusively refer to a machine.

Answer: Ethernet

The inventor of Ethernet, Robert Metcalfe, named it after ether because the early Ethernet prototype was described as "data flowing up into the ether". Ethernet was developed in the mid-1970s, and has become the most common wired network type.

Answer: Linux

Originally, Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, decided to call the operating system Freax, but a coworker thought it was a horrible name and renamed the project Linux, a name Torvalds had earlier decided against.

Answer: mouse

Douglas Engelbart invented the mouse in 1964. As to why it's called a mouse, everybody has their favorite myth. However, Engelbart said in 1968, "I don't know why we call it a mouse. It started that way and we never changed it."

Answer: floppy disk drive

Floppy disks were developed in the late 1960s, and were at first very flexible even though they eventually were made rigid. First appearing at 8 inches, they shrunk to 5.25 inches, and finally 3.5 inches before finally becoming obsolete.

Answer: worm

"Worm" was used in John Brunner's 1975 "The Shockwave Rider" to mean a computer program that replicates itself over a network. Possibly the first large-scale worm, the Morris worm, was released in 1988, and resulted in the first conviction under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Answer: boot

The purpose of the boot process is not only to load the operating system, but also to make sure required components are present and working properly. The reason it's named after the bootstrap paradox is that all computer programs depend on some other software to run, but when the computer is first turned on, there is no software available at first.

Answer: motherboard

"Motherboard" has been around since the late 1950s. Today, the reason they are called motherboards is forgotten due to technology improvements. The first boards required the attachment of "baby-boards" to perform any function. Modern motherboards have the required components built-in.