Your phone's ancestors
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Your Phone's Ancestors — Daily trivia Friday, September 25, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01When rights issues ruled out Tetris, which game did a Nokia engineer build instead?
- ASnake
- BPong
- CMinesweeper
- DSolitaire
Show answer
Snake
Snake. Taneli Armanto could find no owner to pay for snake-style games, so he coded one from scratch.
Q 02Which president fought his security handlers to keep his BlackBerry, and won?
- AGeorge W. Bush
- BBarack Obama
- CBill Clinton
- DDonald Trump
Show answer
Barack Obama
Barack Obama. Security officials gave in once it got extra protection, and only senior staff and a small group of friends could reach him on it.
Q 03Which comic-strip detective talked into a two-way wrist radio, decades before smartwatches?
- ASam Spade
- BMike Hammer
- CDick Tracy
- DPhilip Marlowe
Show answer
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy. The strip gave him the radio in 1946, then upgraded it to a two-way wrist TV in 1964.
Q 04Sent from a computer in early December, what did the first text message say?
- AHappy New Year
- BMerry Christmas
- CTesting, testing
- DCan you read this?
Show answer
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas. Neil Papworth sent it to Vodafone director Richard Jarvis, who was at the office Christmas party.
Q 05The first phone numbers were handed out in case which workers caught measles?
- ALine repairmen
- BPhone-book printers
- CTelegraph clerks
- DSwitchboard operators
Show answer
Switchboard operators
Switchboard operators. Callers asked for people by name, and a Lowell doctor feared all four operators would catch measles at once.
Q 06Which company's engineer did Martin Cooper ring to brag while debuting Motorola's handheld cellphone in Manhattan?
- AIBM
- BGeneral Electric
- CAT&T
- DSony
Show answer
AT&T
AT&T. Cooper told Joel Engel, head of its cellular program, he was on a real handheld cellphone; to this day, Cooper says, Engel doesn't remember the call.
Q 07Which film gave Apple's iPod its name, when a copywriter pictured a mothership and its pods?
- AAlien
- BStar Wars
- C2001: A Space Odyssey
- DInvasion of the Body Snatchers
Show answer
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey. Copywriter Vinnie Chieco saw the white prototype and remembered the film's line about opening the pod bay doors.
Q 08Which gadget did its inventor test by carrying a wooden block in his pocket, tapping it with a chopstick?
- ABlackBerry
- BTamagotchi
- CGame Boy
- DPalmPilot
Show answer
PalmPilot
The PalmPilot. Jeff Hawkins pulled the block out to take pretend notes, to see whether a pocket computer worked.
Q 09Old phones' predictive text offered 'book' before which word, so teens took up 'book' as slang for it?
- ACool
- BGood
- CSick
- DNice
Show answer
Cool
Cool. Both words use the keys 2-6-6-5, and predictive text offered 'book' first.
Q 10For the iPhone's unveiling, Apple's engineers rigged the demo phones to always display what, whatever the truth?
- AA full battery
- BFull signal bars
- CA GPS lock
- DFree storage space
Show answer
Full signal bars
Full signal bars. Engineers feared the radio would crash and restart on stage, so every demo phone showed five bars no matter what.
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