A Quiz on Business and Technology conducted in March 2019.

1. QUESTION #1:
The main reasons behind the company’s failure in India can be the fact that their most iconic
product is not suited to the customers because they believe in having their breakfast at home as a
sit-down meal.
Another factor that played a role was a mistake in marketing, by losing focus: they substituted their
iconic product with burgers.
To be fair, the brand tried to localize its offerings by introducing items such as the Lychee coolattas.
Over time, it downplayed its beverage brand of business which accounts for approximately 60% of its
sales, introducing a spicy sandwich line-up.
While some experts say that Indian customers have switched to more healthy alternatives, sweet
shops still rake in profits and more importantly, one of the other businesses of the same brand is
killing it in the country making steadily increasing revenues of above $500 million every year.
Question:
What are the two chains in context?

2. QUESTION #2:
The following were few of the many problems reported to have had happened about two
decades ago:
In Sheffield, United Kingdom, incorrect risk assessments for Down syndrome were sent to 154
pregnant women and two abortions were carried out as a direct result of a _____ ___
(miscalculation of the mother's age).
In Japan, at two minutes past midnight, Osaka Media Port, a telecommunications carrier, found
errors in the date management part of the company's network. The problem was fixed by 02:43
and no services were disrupted.
In Australia, bus ticket validation machines in two states failed to operate.
In the United States, 150 Delaware Lottery racino slot machines stopped working.
Question: When did this problem occur? What was the problem?

3. QUESTION #3:
A “_________ product” is defined to be an intersection of a big problem, radical solution and
breakthrough technology, a metaphor for an aim for a lofty target.
According to Astro Teller, who goes by the title Captain of ________, the company was created in
order to focus on more ambitious projects (_________ projects) which didn’t necessarily fit any of
the pre-existing business lines of its parent company.
The semi-secret R&D company is currently conducting tests of free-space optical
communication. The technology uses light beams which are developed by the company’s office
in Visakhapatnam. As of December 2017, the company had set up 2,000 of these units in India,
through a partnership with Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited.
Although a little strange, the company’s name aptly describes its policy: venturing out into the
unknown and finding radical solutions.
Fill in the blanks and Identify the company.

4. QUESTION #4:
Based on installed capacity, _____ is the largest project by Bosch Energy and Building Solutions in
India till date.
India, owing to its location, is a favorable place to host such projects and is progressing its way to
achieve its government’s ambitious targets.
Question:
Completed in 2015, what achievement was made as a result of the project with the place
receiving a Champions of the Earth award by the UN?

5. QUESTION #5:
The 18th century automaton started receiving attention when it solved the knight’s tour problem quite
effortlessly, a huge feat for any human to do. Winning most of the games during its demonstration in
Europe and America for around eight decades, it played and defeated many challengers including
statesmen Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin.
People were naturally very intrigued, about hundreds turning up at its events curious about how the
man-made wonder worked. It also caught the attention of Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote a detailed
hypothesis about he thought the machine must have worked.
The machine came into popular consciousness when Amazon developed and named a crowd-funding
service after it, quite appropriately.
Question:
1. Identify the 18th century machine in the next slide.
2. What does the Amazon service, contrary to what technology should be doing, do?

7. QUESTION #6:
The most common chemicals used for _____ _______ include silver iodide, potassium iodide and dry
ice (solid carbon dioxide). Liquid propane, which expands into a gas, has also been used. This can
produce Xs at higher temperatures than silver iodide. After promising research, the use of
hygroscopic materials, such as table salt, is becoming more popular.
UAE became one of the first country in the Middle East to use this technology. 187 missions
were sent in 2015, each aircraft taking about three hours to complete its task.
The largest system exists is in the People’s Republic of China and has been occasionally
accused of “stealing” something by using this technology. China also performed the reverse of
the process, most notably during the 2008 Beijing Olympics so that the opening and closing
ceremonies can proceed undisturbed.
Question: What does the process do?

8. QUESTION #7:
Invented twice, two decades apart and men from opposite sides of the world, it is interesting to
note that both of them were struck with the idea on their European holidays.
While the Japanese was having trust-issues with passers-by, the Canadian was bored waiting for
people to oblige him for something.
Useful but indeed a nuisance, this product is banned from stadiums, concerts, museums and was
even banned from an Apple conference.
Which invention is being talked about?

9. QUESTION #8:
The premise of the Golden Arches theory is that once a country has reached the level of economic
development that the middle class has become large enough to sustain a network of X’s, these
developed countries have a huge incentive to refrain from war.
A spin-off to the theory appears in the book by Thomas Freidman who changed the narrative and
replaced the company X with the technology company Y. Owing to the fact that Y uses not one but
multiple lines of suppliers, products of Y from sale to delivery involves a lot of key players.
On a related note, the title of the book is inspired from a phrase coined by Nandan Nilekani who met
Friedman in Bangalore and was telling him how developing countries like India were now able to
compete with the big players for global knowledge and how the playing fields were leveled. He
compares his journey to India to Columbus’ 500 years ago, both of them having contrasting
realizations.
Question:
1. What are the two companies X and Y?
2. What is the name of the book by Thomas Freidman?

10. QUESTION #9:
Gary Gilmore’s story had immense cultural resonance during the late 70s, inspiring songs,
movies and books. Resisting a habeas corpus and demanding a death penalty for himself, he said
he would like to be shot rather than hanged only because he thought the hanging might get
botched.
Other than his impact in 70s culture, he also inspired something “universal and intensely
personal” a decade later which has achieved massive popularity continuing to this date. Dan
_________ was inspired by Gilmore’s last words to the firing squad.
Question:
1. What was inspired from Gilmore’s last words, resulting in a rise in sales from 18% to 43%?
2. Fill in the blanks.

11. QUESTION #10:
Real-time _______ _____________consists of a chain of several distinct technologies – each of which have
experienced rapid degrees of improvement over recent years.
Once ready to perform, the devices first record an utterance, using a VAD to identify when the
________ starts and ends. It is then compressed to occupy a much smaller amount of data, then
conveyed over WiFi, 3G or 4G to Google’s servers.
In a matter of seconds, the compressed data is processed extensively through numerous models and
sent through the reverse direction.
Introduced a year ago, this device comes in the list of the technologies which have been predicted
before by the movies.
Question:
1. Identify the device. (picture in the next slide)2
2. What does this device do?

12. QUESTION #11:
After years of legal battles, a pair of brothers — Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato — have
successfully managed to win a legal battle against _____, earning their right to keep the name of
their company.
The fight began in 2012, when the pair noticed that _____ had never trademarked the name. They
were already in the process of starting their own clothing and accessory company and decided
the name would go perfectly with their brand.
The brothers’ brand were also attacked for their logo but after a long battle in the European
Union Intellectual Office, the court ruled that the letter isn’t edible and hence the rip-off was
rendered invalid.
Question:
What is the name of the Italian fashion house?

13. QUESTION #12:
Patented in 1936, the Dvorak version was designed to challenge the status quo in its field with its
improvements over the more popular version available in the market.
There were a few problems associated with the previous version, one of them being: usage of the
left hand more than the right hand. Since most of the people have their dominant one as their
right, the Dvorak version made the right hand more busier than the left.
A test conducted by the U.S. Navy in the 1940s showed that people using the Dvorak version
increased productivity by 74% yet it is food for thought as to why the Dvorak version did not
flourish in the market.
Some people blame it on their (lack of) marketing but for most people, it the case of old habits
dying hard.
Question: What was the Dvorak version challenging?

14. QUESTION #13:
The modern discussion of the phenomenon began with the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions
and the Madness of Crowds, published in 1841. It was proposed that crowds of people often behave
irrationally, and the _____ _____ was one of his primary examples.
The _____ was different in its field known to Europe at that time, with a saturated intense color that
none other had. With newly found independence, this country’s economic resources could now be
channeled into commerce thus marking its entry to its Golden Age. It is under these circumstances
that the _____ rose from a status symbol to a luxury item and the madness followed.
On the next slide, the price index of the object over time is shown.
Question:
1. What is the phenomenon being referred to?
2. What was it the first instance of?

16. QUESTION #14:
X: “Thank you again, for starters, I sometimes listen to opponents and wonder, what do they
want? Would they prefer poor people on their doorsteps begging for money? Would they live
with poor people without running and heating water? Giving opportunities to less fortunate
should be a moral obligation for any human being and plays a key role to the state….”
Y: “I think that X suggests something very intuitive: that if believe _________ are good in principle,
surely it is worth giving money to subsidize those, but I don’t think that is ever enough of a
justification for subsidies. Because there are multiple things that are good for society. That
could be, in countries like the US, increased investment in health care.”
Question:
What is the significance of this conversation?

17. QUESTION #15:
The agency's rationale for the brand strategy was defined as:
“He is a man rich in stories and experiences, much the way the audience hopes to be in the
future. Rather than an embodiment of the brand, ___ _____ ____________ ____ is a voluntary brand
spokesperson: he and ___ _____ share a point of view on life that it should be lived fully.”
According to the company, U.S. sales increased each year between 2006–2010 and tripled in
Canada in 2008. Sales of ___ _____ are said to have increased by 22% at a time when sale of other
imported beer fell 4% in the U.S.
Question:
1. Identify the ad campaign.
2. Which company released this ad campaign?
3. Present in countless memes, which phrase has its origin in the mentioned ad?

20. Answers follow.

21. QUESTION #1:
The main reasons behind the company’s failure in India can be the fact that their most iconic
product is not suited to the customers because they believe in having their breakfast at home as a
sit-down meal.
Another factor that played a role was a mistake in marketing, by losing focus: they substituted their
iconic product with burgers.
To be fair, the brand tried to localize its offerings by introducing items such as the Lychee coolattas.
Over time, it downplayed its beverage brand of business which accounts for approximately 60% of its
sales, introducing a spicy sandwich line-up.
While some experts say that Indian customers have switched to more healthy alternatives, sweet
shops still rake in profits and more importantly, one of the other businesses of the same brand is
killing it in the country making steadily increasing revenues of above $500 million every year.
Question:
What are the two chains in context?

23. ANSWER #1:
Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins

24. QUESTION #2:
The following were few of the many problems reported to have had happened about two
decades ago:
In Sheffield, United Kingdom, incorrect risk assessments for Down syndrome were sent to 154
pregnant women and two abortions were carried out as a direct result of a _____ ___
(miscalculation of the mother's age).
In Japan, at two minutes past midnight, Osaka Media Port, a telecommunications carrier, found
errors in the date management part of the company's network. The problem was fixed by 02:43
and no services were disrupted.
In Australia, bus ticket validation machines in two states failed to operate.
In the United States, 150 Delaware Lottery racino slot machines stopped working.
Question: When did this problem occur? What was the problem?

26. ANSWER #2:
The problem occurred on January 1, 2000, it came to be called as the “Y2K”
problem.
The problem happened because dates were formatted as the last two digits
only thus making 2000 indistinguishable from 1900.

27. QUESTION #3:
A “_________ product” is defined to be an intersection of a big problem, radical solution and
breakthrough technology, a metaphor for an aim for a lofty target.
According to Astro Teller, who goes by the title Captain of ________, the company was created in
order to focus on more ambitious projects (_________ projects) which didn’t necessarily fit any of
the pre-existing business lines of its parent company.
The semi-secret R&D company is currently conducting tests of free-space optical
communication. The technology uses light beams which are developed by the company’s office
in Visakhapatnam. As of December 2017, the company had set up 2,000 of these units in India,
through a partnership with Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited.
Although a little strange, the company’s name aptly describes its policy: venturing out into the
unknown and finding radical solutions.
Fill in the blanks and Identify the company.

29. ANSWER #3:
Moonshot products, X.

30. QUESTION #4:
Based on installed capacity, _____ is the largest project by Bosch Energy and Building Solutions in
India till date.
India, owing to its location, is a favorable place to host such projects and is progressing its way to
achieve its government’s ambitious targets.
Question:
Completed in 2015, what achievement was made as a result of the project with the place
receiving a Champions of the Earth award by the UN?

32. ANSWER #4:
Cochin International Airport became the world’s first fully solar operated airport.

33. QUESTION #5:
The 18th century automaton started receiving attention when it solved the knight’s tour problem quite
effortlessly, a huge feat for any human to do. Winning most of the games during its demonstration in
Europe and America for around eight decades, it played and defeated many challengers including
statesmen Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin.
People were naturally very intrigued, about hundreds turning up at its events curious about how the
man-made wonder worked. It also caught the attention of Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote a detailed
hypothesis about he thought the machine must have worked.
The machine came into popular consciousness when Amazon developed and named a crowd-funding
service after it, quite appropriately.
Question:
1. Identify the 18th century machine in the next slide.
2. What does the Amazon service, contrary to what technology should be doing, do?

35. ANSWER #5:
The Turk, Amazon’s service gives those tasks to humans which computers
struggle to solve.

36. QUESTION #6:
The most common chemicals used for _____ _______ include silver iodide, potassium iodide and dry
ice (solid carbon dioxide). Liquid propane, which expands into a gas, has also been used. This can
produce Xs at higher temperatures than silver iodide. After promising research, the use of
hygroscopic materials, such as table salt, is becoming more popular.
UAE became one of the first country in the Middle East to use this technology. 187 missions
were sent in 2015, each aircraft taking about three hours to complete its task.
The largest system exists is in the People’s Republic of China and has been occasionally
accused of “stealing” something by using this technology. China also performed the reverse of
the process, most notably during the 2008 Beijing Olympics so that the opening and closing
ceremonies can proceed undisturbed.
Question: What does the process do?

38. ANSWER #6:
“Cloud seeding”
It is a process to modify weather by producing artificial rain or snow by
launching chemicals into the air for cloud condensation.

39. QUESTION #7:
Invented twice, two decades apart and men from opposite sides of the world, it is interesting to
note that both of them were struck with the idea on their European holidays.
While the Japanese was having trust-issues with passers-by, the Canadian was bored waiting for
people to oblige him for something.
Useful but indeed a nuisance, this product is banned from stadiums, concerts, museums and was
even banned from an Apple conference.
Which invention is being talked about?

41. ANSWER #7:
Selfie-sticks.

42. QUESTION #8:
The premise of the Golden Arches theory is that once a country has reached the level of economic
development that the middle class has become large enough to sustain a network of X’s, these
developed countries have a huge incentive to refrain from war.
A spin-off to the theory appears in the book by Thomas Freidman who changed the narrative and
replaced the company X with the technology company Y. Owing to the fact that Y uses not one but
multiple lines of suppliers, products of Y from sale to delivery involves a lot of key players.
On a related note, the title of the book is inspired from a phrase coined by Nandan Nilekani who met
Friedman in Bangalore and was telling him how developing countries like India were now able to
compete with the big players for global knowledge and how the playing fields were leveled. He
compares his journey to India to Columbus’ 500 years ago, both of them having contrasting
realizations.
Question:
1. What are the two companies X and Y?
2. What is the name of the book by Thomas Freidman?

44. ANSWER #8:

45. QUESTION #9:
Gary Gilmore’s story had immense cultural resonance during the late 70s, inspiring songs,
movies and books. Resisting a habeas corpus and demanding a death penalty for himself, he said
he would like to be shot rather than hanged only because he thought the hanging might get
botched.
Other than his impact in 70s culture, he also inspired something “universal and intensely
personal” a decade later which has achieved massive popularity continuing to this date. Dan
_________ was inspired by Gilmore’s last words to the firing squad.
Question:
1. What was inspired from Gilmore’s last words, resulting in a rise in sales from 18% to 43% for
a company?
2. Fill in the blanks.

47. ANSWER #9:
Gary Gilmore’s last words: “Let’s do it. ” inspired Dan Wieden to come up with the slogan.

48. QUESTION #10:
Real-time _______ _____________consists of a chain of several distinct technologies – each of which have
experienced rapid degrees of improvement over recent years.
Once ready to perform, the devices first record an utterance, using a VAD to identify when the
________ starts and ends. It is then compressed to occupy a much smaller amount of data, then
conveyed over WiFi, 3G or 4G to Google’s servers.
In a matter of seconds, the compressed data is processed extensively through numerous models and
sent through the reverse direction.
Introduced a year ago, this device comes in the list of the technologies which have been predicted
before by the movies.
Question:
1. Identify the device. (picture in the next slide)2
2. What does this device do?

50. ANSWER #10:
Google’s Pixel Buds, these device perform real-time language translation.

51. QUESTION #11:
After years of legal battles, a pair of brothers — Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato — have
successfully managed to win a legal battle against _____, earning their right to keep the name of
their company.
The fight began in 2012, when the pair noticed that _____ had never trademarked the name. They
were already in the process of starting their own clothing and accessory company and decided
the name would go perfectly with their brand.
The brothers’ brand were also attacked for their logo but after a long battle in the European
Union Intellectual Office, the court ruled that the letter isn’t edible and hence the rip-off was
rendered invalid.
Question:
What is the name of the Italian fashion house?

53. ANSWER #11:

54. QUESTION #12:
Patented in 1936, the Dvorak version was designed to challenge the status quo in its field with its
improvements over the more popular version available in the market.
There were a few problems associated with the previous version, one of them being: usage of the
left hand more than the right hand. Since most of the people have their dominant one as their
right, the Dvorak version made the right hand more busier than the left.
A test conducted by the U.S. Navy in the 1940s showed that people using the Dvorak version
increased productivity by 74% yet it is food for thought as to why the Dvorak version did not
flourish in the market.
Some people blame it on their (lack of) marketing but for most people, it the case of old habits
dying hard.
Question: What was the Dvorak version challenging?

56. ANSWER #12:
Qwerty keyboard layout.

57. QUESTION #13:
The modern discussion of the phenomenon began with the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions
and the Madness of Crowds, published in 1841. It was proposed that crowds of people often behave
irrationally, and the _____ _____ was one of his primary examples.
The _____ was different in its field known to Europe at that time, with a saturated intense color that
none other had. With newly found independence, this country’s economic resources could now be
channeled into commerce thus marking its entry to its Golden Age. It is under these circumstances
that the _____ rose from a status symbol to a luxury item and the madness followed.
On the next slide, the price index of the object over time is shown.
Question:
1. What is the phenomenon being referred to?
2. What was it the first instance of?

59. ANSWER #13:
Tulip mania: the first economic bubble.

60. QUESTION #14:
X: “Thank you again, for starters, I sometimes listen to opponents and wonder, what do they
want? Would they prefer poor people on their doorsteps begging for money? Would they live
with poor people without running and heating water? Giving opportunities to less fortunate
should be a moral obligation for any human being and plays a key role to the state….”
Y: “I think that X suggests something very intuitive: that if believe _________ are good in principle,
surely it is worth giving money to subsidize those, but I don’t think that is ever enough of a
justification for subsidies. Because there are multiple things that are good for society. That
could be, in countries like the US, increased investment in health care.”
Question:
What is the significance of this conversation?

62. ANSWER #14:
First formal debate involving an AI: Project Debater debates Harish Nataranjan.

63. QUESTION #15:
The agency's rationale for the brand strategy was defined as:
“He is a man rich in stories and experiences, much the way the audience hopes to be in the
future. Rather than an embodiment of the brand, ___ _____ ____________ ____ is a voluntary brand
spokesperson: he and ___ _____ share a point of view on life that it should be lived fully.”
According to the company, U.S. sales increased each year between 2006–2010 and tripled in
Canada in 2008. Sales of ___ _____ are said to have increased by 22% at a time when sale of other
imported beer fell 4% in the U.S.
Question:
1. Identify the ad campaign.
2. Which company released this ad campaign?
3. Present in countless memes, which phrase has its origin in the mentioned ad?

65. ANSWER #15:
Most Interesting Man in the World, Dos Equis, I Don’t Always memes.