Family Hearing & Balance Center was adjusting my hearing aids, and Dr. Reikowski was asking me if I was hearing on the phone okay. I told him it has been a struggle (me thinking “no hearing aids” and the phone up to my ear). He asked again (him thinking that I had my hearing aids in and the phone was streaming straight to my hearing aids). You see, hearing aids today have Bluetooth capability so that one can connect to a phone without wires. Once we landed on the same page, and I understood what he was asking, he was able to make the adjustments so that I could understand what I was hearing. The good doctor made sure the wireless connection was working as it was intended.
Good.
As I sat there and watched him work, I wondered what Bluetooth is exactly? I knew it is a radio wave, but why the name Bluetooth? So, if I was wondering maybe others could be wondering as well, and so I researched it.
Here you go.
Why the name Bluetooth?:
In 1996, three industry leaders, Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia, met to plan the standardization of this short-range radio technology to support connectivity and collaboration between different products and industries.
During this meeting, Jim Kardach from Intel suggested Bluetooth as a temporary code name. Kardach was later quoted as saying, “King Harald Bluetooth…was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as we intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.”
Bluetooth was only intended as a placeholder until marketing could come up with something really cool.
Who was this King?:
Surprisingly, the name dates back more than a millennia to King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson who was well known for two things:
- Uniting Denmark and Norway in 958.
- His dead tooth, which was a dark blue/grey color, and earned him the nickname Bluetooth.
So, it seams, Mr. Kardach from Intel knew enough history to affect the future with his naming of a new technology. He meant for it to be a placeholder, but it stuck…without question.
I had no idea! Neat.
Same here!
That’s so cool! I love stories like that!
I do also Gail!
That’s good know! Didn’t know that. So the king had a blueish looking tooth. Glad I could help you.
Interesting! I would have guessed a pirate, not a king. “ole Bluetooth’s treasure!”
Now I have to look that one up :)…never heard of that one…but, I never heard about the King as well.
?? A pirate?
HA! Guess what?? Same guy.
How about that!!!
Pirate…LOL!