iPhone 'killing' pub table quiz
Is the iPhone ruining the traditional pub table quiz? The gadget, which can acquire answers to general knowledge questions in an instant, is frustrating organisers and table quiz enthusiasts.
Cheating at table quizzes used to be very difficult. It would involve conspicuously hauling in 26 encyclopaedias on a two-wheel trolley or cunningly looking into your neighbour's answer book. Now all you have to do is keep the iPhone underneath your table and search for the answer. Teams are getting full marks in every round.
Stephen Hendrick is a Dublin DJ who calls out questions at table quizzes as part of his fee. He has a regular slot in Maynooth on a Tuesday night and Lucan on a Friday night.
"There's always the threat of cheating. We have a policy of no mobile phone use and we try to be as strict as we can about it, but it's supposed to be a fun night out. We can't start disqualifying groups when they bothered to come to support the cause after all.
"The iPhone is so powerful these days; you can get answers to difficult questions in a matter of seconds. There's even a music identification application available which can detail the particulars of every song out there. Once the application hears a sample of the song, it can relay the details back to the user."
Mr Hendrick has been trying to counteract the misuse of the iPhone by asking questions in such a way as the answer isn't found easily on the web. Instead of asking who the four Beatles were, he'd ask what instruments they played, for example.
Instead of playing a sample of music, he'd read out some lyrics from a song. Playing a video clip and asking "what happened next?" was a great crowd pleaser, he said.
"It's easy to spot cheaters when they're getting all the answers right except the ones which are designed to counter the iPhone. We keep our eye on these groups once we identify them. We give them a quiet warning and they tend to behave themselves then."
Unfortunately, there aren't as many regular table quizzes as there used to be. This is undoubtedly down to the new technology available to contestants.
It's not just ruining table quizzes either. You can't even have a spirited argument in your local pub without the threat of the barman opening up his laptop to mediate -- and we all secretly dislike when the barman is right.
- RORY COEN
Originally published in
