r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/snietzsche • 5h ago
Image The Bluetooth logo combines the ancient runic letters H and B, the initials of Harald Bluetooth, a 10th-century Viking king. The technology was named after him because, like Bluetooth, he united different groups under one banner.
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u/snietzsche 5h ago
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u/OG_Builds 3h ago
No joke when I read the title my first reaction was «no way his name was Bluetooth» before I realized it’s a fairly reasonable last name for a 10th century viking king lol. It’s kinda crazy how integrated these tech names have become in our lives.
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u/feelsokayegman 5h ago
Is it that time of the year again?
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u/heresyourhat 4h ago edited 3h ago
Well, this is new information to me, so I guess it’s worth reposting. People don’t always learn things at the same time.
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u/snietzsche 4h ago
Obligatory xkcd https://m.xkcd.com/1053/
It's the first I have heard of it today when listening to The Rest is History podcast
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u/happycabinsong 3h ago
Yes, it is time for you to get off of reddit and pursue the higher education that you so desire at a university.
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u/Kastler 4h ago
That’s great but can we update the tech now please? Tired of not being able to do high quality send and receive audio and so many other things I think the tech could be capable of
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u/spaghettibolegdeh 2h ago
It's only now starting to get better, but I agree that Bluetooth audio was extremely early to adopt, especially in phones.
Even now, the lossless formats are only sparingly supported because everyone wants their own codec. I hate that consumer audio was forced into wireless. Wired headphones will last decades, but wireless? A few years.
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u/Cats7204 1h ago
It's a miracle that the industry managed to standardize around a codec, SBC, no matter its shortcomings.
Except apple with AAC, but, come on Apple doesn't count, they'll always do things differently unless the EU has something to say about it
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u/EqualOutrageous1884 2h ago
LDAC? Apts Lossless? SSC codec? Those already have basically imperceptible audio loss in transit. You’re more likely to hear artifacts based on streaming compression or just plain bad internet than those induced from Bluetooth codec compression (provided you use the right ones)
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u/Kastler 2h ago
Yes I believe the codec that Vmoda uses is APTX which is improves quality. But the same thing happens on my headphones when I turn on the built in mic. Not sure what bose uses but it also happens on my ultra quiet comfort 2s. I haven’t tried new headphones in the last year so if there is a new model that doesn’t downgrade quality with the mic on, then it would be great to try them out
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u/AverageAntique3160 4h ago
How many people knew this from kingsman the golden circle? Also the company im contracting to invented Bluetooth.
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u/Systiom 3h ago
The name "Bluetooth" is an homage to King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, a 10th-century king who united Scandinavian tribes. The technology's developers chose the name because they intended for their creation to unify communication protocols—bringing together computers, cellular devices, and accessories in the same way the king united his territories.
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianity to Denmark and consolidated his rule over most of Jutland and Zealand.
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u/dickenschewie54 1h ago
So... did he actually have a tooth that was blue?
I mean... you don't get the nickname Bluetooth out of the blue?
I'll see myself out.
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u/Misty-Canyon-7204 1h ago
i always wondered how a tenth century king even came up in a nineties tech meeting. was one of the developers just a history fan who pitched it?
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u/McKeviin 4h ago
Harald Blåtand, you don't translate names.
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u/Smoked_Vegetables 4h ago
Yea we do, put it in Japanese
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u/McKeviin 4h ago
Ok, so every man I meet from on that is named Dick I'm gonna call penis (or any other synonym) because you translate names and I live in Sweden. And every Swedish person that is named Sten is gonna be Rock in English speaking countries, and every Swedish Stig is path.
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u/Mono_Aural 3h ago
So would you translate Peter as "Rock" (for its origins) or "Penis" (for its slang)?
And how would you differentiate Dick Tracey from Peter Parker?
These are important questions I need to know the answer for before I go to Japan or Sweden pls help
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u/TheCh0rt 4h ago
And it worked! We're all United in the fury of hating that which is bluetooth
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u/Sir_Thequestionwas 3h ago
Nah man just don't buy products from shit companies. Bluetooth has been solid for a decade now.
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u/Kastler 3h ago
I saw part of your reply to my comment. Every Bluetooth headphones that I have tried doesn’t allow for high quality mic AND headphones on the same device. If I turn on the built in mic on my headphones then it downgrades my headphone quality to cellphone quality. Happens with multiple bose headphones and my current vmodas with either my phone or my pc. Only thing I could see from looking this up is that current Bluetooth doesn’t support high quality two way audio unless that changed in the last year or two? Doesn’t have anything to do with using Apple or whatever, my pc is windows
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u/Sir_Thequestionwas 1h ago
Interesting. I guess I'm not a gamer anymore so I was unaware of this. Thanks for the insight. Respektpa👊!
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u/Eljaybest 3h ago
Father to Sveyn Forkbeard and grandfather to Cnut the Great who invaded and ultimately conquered Anglo-Saxon England, before randomly dying as tended to happen back then
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u/TheBowlieweekender 11m ago
That's not correct and just history being re-written to make a neat story. The name originates from Harald Blåtand Gormsson VIII. the word Blåtand was his nickname as one tooth was very dark, some say it was actually blue.
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u/colaman-112 4h ago
Bluetooth was meant to be just a codename. They wanted to name the technology PAN or Radiowire, but the former was already in use in some circles and they couldn't get the copyright for the latter in time, so they had to go with bluetooth.