Tracing Bluetooth's Evolution: From Humble Beginnings to Now
Bluetooth was named after a 10th-century Scandinavian king, and the symbol of his initials is in ancient runes.
Harald Bluetooth was a 10th-century Denmark and Norway king famed for uniting and Christianising the Scandinavian nations. Fast-forward to the 20th century, when tech companies Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, and later IBM were searching for a way to unite various pathways for digital devices to communicate into a single, universal standard. This wireless technology had a codename –'Bluetooth'. Jim Kardach from Intel suggested the name of Harald Bluetooth, who united warring factions just as they hoped their technology would unite communication protocols. The naming was supposed to be temporary but grew popular and stuck around. Interestingly, even the Bluetooth logo has roots in King Harald’s history! It is a bind rune merging two ancient Viking runes: Hagall (ᚼ) and Bjarkan (ᛒ), equivalent to H and B - Harald Bluetooth's initials. Although technologically advanced, Bluetooth has continued evolving since it debuted in 1999. Over time, more organizations have joined the consortium responsible for its development (now called the Bluetooth Special Interest Group), making it a golden example of collaboration across nations, much like King Harald’s rule.
Category: Accidental Discoveries
