There are all kinds of standards. There's standard issue and
standard procedures and the Gold standard and standard of living
and, of course, "well, I have my standards." One technological
standards bears the intriguing name of Bluetooth.
Bluetooth is probably the coolest and most potentially helpful
technology you've never heard of. That might seem strange, since
seems like it's made to order for our gadget-and-gear-filled world.
Our homes are flooded with technology. There are TVs and DVDs
and game playing devices. There are wireless phones and computers
and PDAs, not to mention smart washers and driers and stoves and
refrigerators. Even cars are getting smarter.
But, let's back up for a minute. What, exactly is Bluetooth and
what will it do for you?
Bluetooth technology will let you connect different wireless
devices in the same room. For example, you might connect your
wireless phone and PC so you could send the PC commands from across
the room, or connect your PC and entertainment center so you can
use your PC to select which CDs to play.
This could be a great thing. If nothing else, it would eliminate
a lot of those cables and the tripping hazard they represent,
not to mention the money you'll save from not having to buy all
those cords.
There's a catch, though. Both devices have to be Bluetooth enabled
for the connection to work.
In Europe, Bluetooth is big stuff. Bluetooth is a large and growing
market there. It's becoming more popular quickly in Asia, too.
But in the US things are different. Only about ten percent of
all Bluetooth devices are sold here. The only folks in the US
who seem to know about Bluetooth are techies and the people who
love them.
What's the problem? Actually, there are three problems.
Problem number one is that people who have developed Bluetooth
haven't done a real good job of telling the rest of us what it
is and why we might want it. The Bluetooth promotional material
seems to be written by engineers and propeller heads, for engineers
and propeller heads. Consider the following.
"Bluetooth can reliably provide a one megabit per second data
rate for both voice and data, even in a noisy, high-density radio
environment. Bluetooth is also good for zero-latency applications."
This makes perfects se
Fortunately, more non-techie communicators are getting involved
in telling the Bluetooth story and that should mean that the story
will get easier to understand.
Another problem is that there are some things about Bluetooth
that have to work better before any kind of mass adoption is possible.
As of today you can't just buy a Bluetooth enabled device, fire
it up and have it work with other Bluetooth devices, without a
lot of frustrating setup work.
That's on the way to being solved, too. Sony has announced that
its own Bluetooth products will work together automatically. It
says it can provide "instant connection, one step, one second."
Other manufacturers won't be far behind. Then they'll figure
out how to connect one manufacturer's devices to those of another
manufacturer automatically.
The final problem is that some of big companies in the US market
haven't really caught Bluetooth fever. In Europe and Asia, wireless
phone companies have driven Bluetooth adoption. But, in the US
Verizon, Sprint PCS, and Motorola have, so far, refused to put
the technology in their phones.
That may change, though in a strange way. In the US, automobiles
may turn out to be the big drivers of Bluetooth adoption. Some
BMWs and Toyotas already offer Bluetooth as an option for hands
free phone operation and operation of the sunroof and CD changer.
What's likely to happen is this. Folks who have spent many thousand
dollars on a car with an extra Bluetooth option may not be thrilled
to find out that their wireless phone won't work with the option.
They're not likely to send their car back to the dealership.
Instead, they're likely to set about switching phone service or
equipment.
Stay tuned. In the next year you're going to hear more about
Bluetooth as the technology gets better known, easier to use and
more popular. That's a good thing for all of us. We have nothing
to use but our cords.
Top of page
Bluetooth is
a hot topic. There are several sites on the Web devoted to information
about this technology. Here's my pick of the lot.
You can start at The Official
Bluetooth Web site which as lots of information about what
Bluetooth is, what it does, and how you can get it to work for
you.
Or start at the Bluetooth
section of the wonderful How Stuff Works site. That's where
you'll find an excellent article on the technology by Curt Franklin.
Palo Wireless has an
excellent Bluetooth resource section on their site.
Apple is often an innovation leader and they're among the first
computer makers to really get involve with Bluetooth. The
Bluetooth page on Apple's site is mostly a sales pitch, but
there's some good information, too.
18 May 2004
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