Although well into the 2000’s some of us continued using wired headphones and others the legendary eighties headphones (now in fashion again) The option to listen to music through a wireless device has already existed since 1999.
It was in that year when the first Bluetooth device was launched on the market: hands-free mobile headphones linked to the company Vosi Techonology to be able to connect a mobile phone and the audio system of a car. The first patent obtained the ‘Best Technology Award’ awarded by COMDEX, the annual technology event (1979-2003) organized by The Interface Group. So, the range of the first devices with Bluetooth technology was only 50 centimeters, but over time they allow up to almost 100 meters, although the normal range is no more than 10 m.
The first origin of Bluetooth is, of course, technological, since was born from the need to create wireless networks that would allow the exchange of data and audio between different devices intelligent. However, its second origin is not linked to new technologies, since its name is a Scandinavian cultural mix of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish tradition.
‘Blue Tooth’ in English and Danish
Somehow, the Swede Nils Rydbeck is the biological father of Bluetooth, although the adoptive father is Intel. That is why, in some way, this technology that is so advanced for the time is of Nordic origin, and Rydebck developed it together with his co-workers: they were all employed at the Swedish Ericsson Mobile, merged with Sony since 2001.
The second Scandinavian origin is the name. There is no need to look for a hidden meaning or think about specific technological terminology, to begin with, you just have to know languages. Indeed, bluetooth is the literal translation from Spanish to English of ‘blue tooth’, but which in turn comes from the Danish surname Blatandwhich means the same thing.
The reality is that it was Intel engineer Jim Kardach who, after reading the novel The Long Ships and learning the story of the Scandinavian king Harald Blatand (he was from Norway and Denmark) decided to adopt the name to baptize the new industrial specification.
The history of Blatand is known in northern European popular culture for having been during the 19th century. 10th king of Denmark for almost 30 years and having conquered Norwegian lands during that time. In fact, he is credited with the introduction of Christianity in both countries.
The parallelism between the conquest, and subsequent union of Norway with Denmark, and the desire to connect the new devices that were emerging with new technologies was definitive in establishing the name Bluetooth.
Viking runes like western cave paintings
Despite Rydbeck’s development since 1989, The promoter of Bluetooth from 1997 onwards was Örjan Johansson, who managed to launch the official website just a year later. Although, already mentioned, it is the responsibility of the name of Jim Kardach, an Intel engineer.
According to the statistical solutions portal, Statista, In 2023, 5 billion Bluetooth connections will be reached worldwide, and more 7 billion are expected by 2028. Today, almost any smart device (mobile phones, televisions, computers, tablets…) has Bluetooth technology, but at the beginning of the century the extinct Motorola was one of the first telephone companies , together with Ericcson, in incorporating Bluetooth into their devices.
However, despite the habit that we already have of seeing the Bluetooth icon on our devices, few know that it is, once again, a a ‘drawing’ inspired by Viking tradition. Specifically, the logo is a mixture of two Norse runes: Hagall, which represents the letter ‘h’ in various runic alphabets, and Berkana, which represents the ‘b’, and which actually correspond to the initials of the Danish king Harald Blatand.
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