Blog Post 4: History Of Communication Technologies

 Bluetooth is an increasingly important technology, allowing people to communicate and engage with media hands-free. At this point in time, most modern cellphones no longer have a headphone jack, requiring a set of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds if the owner wishes to listen to something privately. Bluetooth is a common feature in most modern cars as well, with the connection allowing people to make and take calls while driving, listen to text messages which reduce the risk of texting and driving or put on music or a podcast to listen to during the drive. 

With the commonality of Bluetooth in the Modern Era, one may wonder how it got its start. A Swedish inventor named Nils Rydbeck created what was then known as "Short-Link Radio Technology" in 1989, hoping to make wireless headsets for the company he worked for, Ericsson Mobile. The intention was for the technology to allow a wide range of devices to work together without using too much battery life, allowing for a more straightforward battery or costing too much money. 

While the initial idea and concept were created in 1989, the actual development of the technology started in 1994, with a real, workable solution and prototype appearing in 1997. Rydbeck worked with IBM head Adalio Sanchez to use his short-link radio technology to connect an IBM Thinkpad notebook to a mobile phone since connecting the two otherwise was a significant drain on both devices' battery life. The first-ever Bluetooth phone was released a few years later in 2000, the Ericsson T36.

The Ericsson company released a set of Bluetooth headphones alongside this phone, showing off its unique capability to connect to other devices wirelessly. After this phone was released, Bluetooth technology became increasingly widespread, included in technology such as IBM's Thinkpad A30 in 2001. As the years passed, Bluetooth technology improved into what we know today. 

Bluetooth has a wide range of uses, and is incredibly common in the modern day. With the lack of headphone jacks, the demand for Bluetooth earbuds and headphones has risen drastically in recent years, and included the capability in cars is in increasingly high demand. People want to listen to their own choice in media and music, so radio stations are becoming increasingly overshadowed by Bluetooth.

This technology is excellent, reducing the wires and cables we have to use to have more than one device connected. Bluetooth is now considered essential for everyday life and a standard feature in most modern cars and all modern phones. Almost everyone uses Bluetooth daily, and the world would be quite different without it. 

However, this doesn't mean that Bluetooth doesn't have its risks. You'd think that voice commands in cars would reduce the risk that comes from texting and driving, but studies show that using the hands-free technology in cars can be just as distracting if not more so than traditional texting while driving. Bluetooth capability can also drive up the cost of technology, so it becoming more common causes the cost  of technology to steadily increase.