The invention of the Bluetooth device, while relatively new, has quickly become one of the most important inventions in recent history. This communication technology has allowed people the opportunity to share a plethora of things with one another in a short amount of time, whereas before it would take at least a few days until it reached the targeted individual. I never realized just how common it is to find a technological device that uses Bluetooth in order to work properly, it would actually be harder to find a wireless device that doesn't use Bluetooth.
The original idea for Bluetooth was created in 1996 by three popular technology companies; Nokia, Ericsson, and Intel. They met to discuss a way of creating a short-range radio technology that would allow people to connect and collaborate in a quick and easy way. Two years after the idea for the Bluetooth device was created there was another development, in 1998 Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) was created for the purpose of bringing the product to the consumer market.
Finally, in 1999 the first Bluetooth device (Bluetooth 1.0) was released to the public originally to mixed reviews as there were competing products that were gaining popularity. The competing products were originally gaining more traction because they proved to be faster than the first Bluetooth device, but it was significantly more expensive than the Bluetooth product which is what caused consumers to shift products.
Bluetooth devices have quickly become extremely popular and are changing the way people have lived their lives over the past twenty-three years. Within ten years of the release of the first Bluetooth device there had been over two billion Bluetooth products sold worldwide and by 2020 there had been four billion sold.
When Bluetooth was first released it was meant for only phones and desktop computers, but within a few years it had expanded to laptops and printers. Almost all of the wireless technological devices that are used today are able to operate because of Bluetooth providing a quick connection between devices. This type of technology can be found in photographs, refrigerators, and even cars; it has quickly become a part of people's everyday lives over time and most people do not even realize how important Bluetooth is.
What I found to be the most interesting part of Bluetooth is how they came up with the name of the company. The name comes from a former Viking king of Denmark and Norway, King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, he is best known for successfully uniting the Scandinavian countries under his rule. Vikings have always been a group of people that I have found to be intriguing because of their lifestyle and religion.
Before Gormsson, the place that is known today as Scandinavia did not exist in the same way, the countries were not enemies, but they had no relationship. The king's nickname "Bluetooth" comes from him having a dead tooth that turned blue and people started to call him by that name and the rest is history.
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