Why I Am Grateful For Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Many of us who have been using personal computers since they debuted in the late 1970s remember what it took to connect them to any network that existed back then. Those networks mainly consisted of bulletin boards, simple sites like CompuServe, and others.

Back then, the way we connected to these text-only networks was via some type of modem over standard telephone landlines. My first modem was 300 baud and was painfully slow. I remember how excited I was when the first 1200 baud modems came out, and I got some of the first on the market. I was even happier when we reached 2400 baud modems, although most of what was being transmitted was still text and text-only services.

Imagine my delight when 9600 baud modems came out. Then in the early 1990s 60,000 baud 56kb/sec modems hit the market and AOL was the rage.

Of course, modems are just a memory for us old-timers, and anyone who has connected to a computer in the last 20 years does not even know about modems and how they empowered us to get connected.

Today connectivity is driven by high-speed networks and distributed wirelessly through WIFI. My teenage granddaughters only know wireless connectivity over a home wireless network or their cellular phones.

But there is another form of wireless that I am particularly thankful for, and that is Bluetooth. In fact, at this year's Thanksgiving dinner, when each us were to tell what we were grateful for, I added Bluetooth to my list since it had a significant impact on my life last year.

I was at the Bluetooth SIG launch in San Jose, CA, in May of 1998. It was described as a "short-range wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limited to 2.5 milliwatts, giving it a very short range of up to 10 meters (33 ft). It employs UHF radio waves in the ISM bands, from 2.402 GHz to 2.48 GHz.[3] It is mainly used as an alternative to wire connections, to exchange files between nearby portable devices and connect cell phones and music players with wireless headphones."

I remember sitting in the back of the room at this launch led by Intel and IBM, trying to imagine what this technology would enable.

Indeed, while these founding companies' vision for Bluetooth was focused on PC connectivity initially, I am not sure they envisioned some of the ways Bluetooth is used 24 years later.

While we all recognize the importance of WIFI, Bluetooth is under appreciated as a vital wireless personal area network (PAN) that we use daily.

I connect my Apple AirPods to my iPhone through Bluetooth. My Apple CarPlay is connected to my smartphone through Bluetooth. I have various home devices and appliances all connected to Bluetooth. As a serious cook, I am very partial to my Bluetooth-connected meat thermometer, which delivers wireless alerts on my smartphone when the meat is done.

But there is one application that uses Bluetooth that I consider lifesaving. That is the Bluetooth radio used in my Dexcom CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) device.

I wear a Bluetooth-transmitted sensor on my stomach that reads my blood sugars constantly and transmits those numbers to my Apple Watch. I can look at my Apple Watch at any time and know what my blood sugar readings are and then adjust them via insulin as needed.

Before that, I had to do finger pricks to test blood sugars at least four times a day to get accurate readings to adjust insulin needs.

Bluetooth has allowed the medical field to monitor patients' health both in the hospital and at home.

Another example of where Bluetooth has surprised me is its use in clothing. I recently got to test a Bluetooth-enabled jacket and gloves from Fieldsheer on a hiking trip in snowy North Idaho.

I am sure the founders of Bluetooth never dreamed about Bluetooth in clothing. The FieldSheer jacket and gloves each have Bluetooth radios and give the user a way to precisely control the heat temperature in the jacket and gloves. I have hiked in cold snow country and never had this type of heat control at my fingertips.

We also see a lot of smart cooking devices with Bluetooth connections. This includes smart ovens, smart induction cooktops, and even smart pots, which have an app tied to their Bluetooth-enabled device that can help any level of home chef to create great meals easily.

Bluetooth technology is also in cameras, televisions, home speakers, and industrial applications used to control robots, assembly lines, etc.

I may be alone in this appreciation for Bluetooth, but as I look back on this last year, this personal area network technology has made my life so much easier and better. And I suspect that if anyone takes time to reflect on the technologies they most appreciate in the past year, Bluetooth will most likely be one of them.