The "how many X are in Y" is also known as a "case study question." From what I understand it's a standard practice in interviews for consulting companies, such as Bain or McKinsey. I've never seen one in an interview, but friends of mine who took that route obsessed over them.
As your interviewer said, these questions are asked just to see how you will come up with an answer. The actual number hardly matters, so long as you can sell it to the interviewer. Pushing you is part of the process, as well, to see how you hold up "under pressure."
If you want to be uncharitable, this is much like what a management consultant does -- come in, get some problem from a troubled company ("How can we improve sales by 20% in six months?"), develop a strategy, and then convince the client that they should do it. The interview technique makes sense for that context because it selects for people who can pull this off.
Actually, for a PR role I don't think this question is such a bad fit. You will have to think quickly on your feet, answer hostile people, and come up with diplomatic, plausible answers to crazy questions ("why does your product not work with Slackware?"). The precise answer is of course important, since if you're wrong you will be caught, but how you react is more important.
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The "how many X are in Y" is also known as a "case study question." From what I understand it's a standard practice in interviews for consulting companies, such as Bain or McKinsey. I've never seen one in an interview, but friends of mine who took that route obsessed over them.
As your interviewer said, these questions are asked just to see how you will come up with an answer. The actual number hardly matters, so long as you can sell it to the interviewer. Pushing you is part of the process, as well, to see how you hold up "under pressure."
If you want to be uncharitable, this is much like what a management consultant does -- come in, get some problem from a troubled company ("How can we improve sales by 20% in six months?"), develop a strategy, and then convince the client that they should do it. The interview technique makes sense for that context because it selects for people who can pull this off.
Actually, for a PR role I don't think this question is such a bad fit. You will have to think quickly on your feet, answer hostile people, and come up with diplomatic, plausible answers to crazy questions ("why does your product not work with Slackware?"). The precise answer is of course important, since if you're wrong you will be caught, but how you react is more important.