Estimation question

Estimate the bandwidth (bits / s) of a 747 crossing the Atlantic filled with CDs.

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Estimation combining physical cargo capacity with data density and time, testing whether physical shipping can beat network bandwidth for bulk data.

Estimate a 747's cargo capacity, roughly 100 tonnes or about 150 cubic meters.
Estimate CD size (about 700MB) and how many fit by weight and volume in that cargo hold.
Multiply CD count by 700MB to get total data carried.
Estimate transatlantic flight time, roughly 6-7 hours, about 25,000 seconds.
Divide total bits (bytes times 8) by flight time in seconds to get bandwidth in bits per second.

States the 'sneakernet' insight explicitly: this back-of-envelope bandwidth is enormous, tens of Gbps, versus typical internet links.
Uses clean round numbers, e.g. 100,000 CDs at 700MB each equals 70TB, divided by 25,000 seconds.
Notes real-world caveats like loading time and packaging overhead without letting them derail the core calculation.

Forgetting to convert bytes to bits, the classic error on this exact puzzle.
Spending too long on cargo-volume precision instead of carrying the chain through to a final number.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.