Have you ever thought why such a technology as Bluetooth is called like this? Why its logo is so strange? And what does it have in common with the Viking age? Let's find it out!
Why was Bluetooth invented?
This technology was invented so devices would be able to exchange data wirelessly between them.
When was it released?
It was released in 1999, and already the following year the first devices with Bluetooth were in the stores, ready to be bought and used.
Who called this technology Bluetooth and why?
Let's start from the beginning. In 1996 a lot of tech companies were working on a new technology, which was called short-range radio links. But they all created their own standard for it, and that was the problem.
They realized that they had to work together to create something unique - a single short-range radio standard.
That's why the companies created a Special Interest Group (SIG) and met in Lund, Sweden. That was where the companies came to an agreement on working together and SIG was formed.
One employee suggested giving the technology the codename Bluetooth, until a better name comes up. The employee was Jim Kardach from Intel who got this idea from the book "The Vikings" by Gwyn Jones and "The Longships" by Frans G. Bengtsson. So the history of the word "Bluetooth" has its roots in the Viking age.
Who was Bluetooth?
Bluetooth was Harald Gormsson's, a Danish king, nickname, who lived in the middle of the X century in Denmark.
He was famous for uniting parts of Denmark and Norway into 1 nation and converting the Danes to Christianity. But why was he nicknamed like that? Unfortunately, we don't know. The only thing we have are rumours. One of them says that he had a bad tooth and it was blue. Others claim that Harald loved to eat blueberries 😁
What does the Bluetooth symbol mean?
The Bluetooth logo is a combination of 2 runes from the Futhark, which was the runic alphabet that the Vikings used in the Viking age.
The company used the initials of Harald Bluetooth to create something what is called a bindrune by merging 2 initials together.
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