Signature Q1 2009 - (Page 32) [R]evolution | By Keith Ferrell | Illustration by John Hersey | Q1 ’09 How Convenient From refrigerators to electricity, the best conveniences are the ones we don’t even think about. They’ve become so much a part of our daily lives that we cease to notice them except when they stop working. Bluetooth technology is poised to join the ranks of the greatest conveniences of all time. It’s invisible availability at its best. Experience More Got a moment? No? That’s OK, I’ll be here. Come back when it’s a bit more convenient. Convenience. Now there’s an amazing concept. Consider the written word. Writing – whether on paper, onscreen or, for that matter, on papyrus or clay tablets – changed the nature of communication. For the first time, information could be passed to anyone, not just those within hearing range. And, of course, once the telegraph and its descendants came along, it was no longer necessary to even send written materials; data could be transmitted and received almost instantly, a convenience that began the obliteration of distance. Most conveniences are hardly so world-shaking. Readers of a certain age will remember when a special can opener, aka the church key, was needed to open a can of beer or soda. That gave way to the removable pull ring, which in turn yielded to the now universal pull tab. Each step offered a bit more convenience (and fewer sharp edges). Speaking of convenience, one hardly needs to mention the microwave oven. Hours of slaving over a hot stove gave way to pressing a few buttons and being careful of the steam when you remove your meal – or popcorn! – a few minutes (if that) later. With the advent of self-heating food containers, the microwave itself may someday go the way of other, older conveniences. Going out for dinner? The car brought convenient transportation to individuals, and the ignition key made getting that car started far easier than hand-cranking the engine. Electronic ignitions made things easier and more convenient still. Within the car, conveniences abound. To pick one nearly at random, something as simple as a map light made finding a route through the darkness easier; now, global positioning systems help make getting lost almost as much a thing of the past as a horse-drawn carriage. There are millions, and probably billions, of examples of conveniences in our personal and professional lives – so many that it would be inconvenient even to attempt to list them. Indeed, it would be nearly impossible, because the best conveniences are the ones we simply don’t notice. So many in recent years have flowed from the digital revolution, becoming part of our daily lives faster and more thoroughly than earlier innovations. To name but a few: e-mail, cellular communications, digital music and photography. But for all the countless conveniences the digital age offers, one major inconvenience remains: the tangle of wires and cables and connectors that spread like spider webs (only not so organized) from our PCs and printers and related devices – crossing and crisscrossing, collecting dust and driving organized people close to crazy. The Bluetooth wireless solution to that challenge is a perfect definition of convenience: a near-universal standard, an easy-to use technology, a platform that lets us do what we want to do with a device without having to handle anything else. What could be more convenient than that? Not much, as anyone who has used Bluetooth technology discovers immediately. Like all great conveniences, wireless technology moved almost instantly from “How about that!” to “How did I ever get along without it?” Conveniently, Keith Ferrell is our regular [R]evolution writer. He’s the former editor of OMNI magazine and writes extensively on business and technology. 32 | SIGnature | Bluetooth.org http://www.bluetooth.org
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