Bluetooth: History and Uses

 

   It is very easy to not realize that we are using certain technologies in daily life. We take a lot of things for granted now, like WiFi, cameras, and everything else that a mobile phone has. However, there is another, less-talked-about capability that makes the phone seem more magical. Bluetooth abilities are quite powerful, and function without any WiFi. It connects devices within a ten meter radius and can simultaneously send audio and microphone data between devices.

    Invented in 1994, Bluetooth aimed to add connectivity to computer peripherals. These would be headphones, keyboards, or mice that connect to a computer. The inventor company, L. M. Ericsson, had a team developing the technology, led by Jaap Haartsen, a Dutch electrical engineer. The name is unusual in that it is named after a quite unrelated person: Harald Gormsson of Denmark. He ruled over Denmark, uniting the area under a singular ruler. When the team was coming up with a codename, they named it after King Harald, who united Denmark in a similar way that Bluetooth intended to unite computer peripherals. Harald was called “Bluetooth” due to a prominent rotting blue tooth.
    

At the time, the other competition was HomeRF and the IrDA system. They are all pretty similar, but Bluetooth was the one that really caught on. HomeRF, similar to Bluetooth, uses a 2.5 gigahertz radio frequency to transmit information, while IrDA utilizes infrared light beams. This means that IrDA only functions by a line of eye contact, and will not send information through walls. IrDA and HomeRF also send more information between devices, but that requires a larger amount of power that makes these inventions closer to WiFi. IrDA is also limited to only two devices in a network, and has a range of only one meter.


    The goal of the product was to eliminate cables in general life. That is why the range of Bluetooth is not very far, but it is utilized a lot. Things like Airpods, headphones, mice, and keyboards often come today with Bluetooth capabilities. When a device is in range, it will automatically pair if it has been set up before, and it will disconnect when out of range.

    But how does it work? The Internet of Things (IoT) often works with seemingly-magical technology that connects us to devices and devices to each other. In a Bluetooth network, each device that is connected is called a “piconet”. These piconets function by sending data from a “master” to a “slave”. The “master”, often a device like a phone, will send data to the other devices in the piconet and direct them on what to do with the data. The roles may switch during use of the devices. A collection of two to eight piconets, or a scatternet, can have multiple “masters” at any one time. We see this functioning with my Bluetooth headphones that can connect to both my computer and my cell phone at the same time. All piconets in a scatternet operate on the “master”’s clock, so everything is locally set.

    Other competitors had similar features, but Bluetooth eventually won the long game. It is extremely cheap, and its slow transmission speeds mean that it requires little power. It can also handle several simultaneous streams of data, as well as connect through walls and nonmetal objects. It also uses Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands in order to transmit the information, which are globally available bands that are set aside for radio usage. This means that Bluetooth can be used all around the world. It is also extremely efficient, jumping between 79 different radio frequencies all close to 2.4 gigahertz. Bluetooth is so low-power that it rarely interferes with the WiFi signals that pass through this band.
    

    In general, Bluetooth accomplished exactly what it set out to do, and even more. Computer peripherals are utilized with Bluetooth, but so are new applications like biometric data sensors, indoor positioning technology, home lighting, smart appliances, and other smart technologies. Many of these new smart applications of Bluetooth use the new version, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Bluetooth Classic (which is what I have been describing so far), uses a low amount of energy in the first place, but BLE uses even less. It stays dormant for hours at a time and then will send a small amount of data as necessary before becoming dormant again. This is helpful when we need data collected every once in a while, but not constantly. The health applications of BLE are especially exciting, so patients can decrease the amount of cables they are hooked up to.

        One unintended drawback of Bluetooth is the lack of security. There is often no encryption necessary to connect devices together, which exposes the connection to hackers at some points. When pairing a device initially, Bluetooth devices require initial configuration information like device IDs and security keys, but authentication is not mandatory. Hackers can implant incorrect information or pretend to be a receiver during this part of the process. However, that does not happen often, and encryption can be turned on while pairing.

    Bluetooth is extremely useful in everyday life when we don’t want a mass of wires following us around. It is unobtrusive, inexpensive, and costs very little energy. The new BLE and Bluetooth 5.0 versions are especially exciting, expanding what the inventors thought Bluetooth could possibly accomplish.

Eight Values of Free Expression

    The United States of America is unique in that it is one of few nations that allow and even encourage criticism of the government. For example, Germany prohibits any kind of hate speech or anti-Holocaust rhetoric. While it is obvious that any kind of pro-Nazi content is both harmful and is deserving of negative consequences, the United States does not outlaw this speech. The First Amendment protects the freedom of US citizens to say anything, but not from consequences to those actions. For example, if a person said something insensitive about Jewish people to a group of friends, it is likely that they would be ostracized and corrected. Being legal does not mean ethical, and according to the idea of promoting tolerance, if words should not be tolerated then they will not be in a social setting.

    As an even more extreme example, North Korea controls all radio, TV, and Internet usage. It is very difficult to get information in and out of the country,  and often the US will lose track of American journalists trying to collect data. The Eight Values of Free Expression that are so valuable to the US completely do not apply there. I may feel that the United States is filled with chaos most of the time, but I do appreciate the freedom that we have protected by many laws here.

Participating in Self Government

    One of the most important freedoms that is part of the First Amendment is the one to Participate in Self Government. Not only do citizens of the United States have the ability to vote for their representatives and executive leaders, but they also should have an informed choice. I recently have turned 19, and so have not voted much, but I have participated in a school board vote and a class president vote. I tend not to vote unless I have gathered information to make a choice, since if I went to vote without this knowledge I would be basically picking randomly. Before the school board vote, I knew I was voting for one person in particular, since I knew her in person and I believed she would greatly help the district. However, the website with the information about the candidates had crashed, so I abstained from voting for the other positions.

    Of course, this is the point of Presidential campaigns. Presidents will come and visit states to try to get them to vote, and they do this by informing the people about what they stand for. People tend to vote for the candidate that they have heard the most about, and this results in a government that the citizens are the most pleased with. The words "the government gets its power only through the consent of the governed," demonstrates the importance of being informed upon voting. When people are happy to be governed, they will follow laws and be otherwise cooperative.

Protecting Dissent

    In a similar vein, the idea of Protecting Dissent is something that no government should operate without. This is very true especially today, as no matter who is in charge people will criticize. However, this is a feature, not a bug, of the United States government. The government should aim to maximize the contentment of its citizens. If people were censored for speaking their opinion against the government, then the government can never improve.

    I feel that the ability to criticize the US government is an important one, especially today. The upcoming 2024 election will cause a lot of discussion, inter-party and intra-party, which is good for the direction of power. With the presence of social media, it is easy to gain information about possible candidates, and also to voice dissent. As someone who was ten days too young to vote in 2022's primary election, I have been waiting for this opportunity for a few years. Some issues that are personal to me are women's reproductive rights, as well as immigration in general. It is then, as a citizen, my job to criticize the government's failings in these areas, as well as vote for the person who I feel will represent my ideals the best.

    I am grateful to be born in a country that prioritizes the freedom of its citizens in as many aspects as possible. I hear about the atrocities that happen to those under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party, where citizens cannot access un-censored Internet and are heavily surveilled. It is difficult to find information about the exact workings of the Chinese elections, but they do not have the same free speech ideals as the US, and therefore the citizens are likely not as informed as they should be. I feel that everyone deserves to live in a country where informed criticism and voting is encouraged rather than outlawed.

The Supreme Court

My Background with the Supreme Court

Everyone in a public school is required to take a class in which the Constitution is analyzed and discussed. I've spent many hours writing about the Bill of Rights, as well as learning about the history behind each piece of the Constitution. Our guidelines to the government, at the time, were quite unique when the Founding Fathers wrote them up. The legislative, executive, and judicial branch are all essential parts that form our government. The legislative powers, belonging to Congress, and the executive powers, residing with the President and their team, are the most well-known. When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, they may say President of the United States. 

What you will  never hear is a child wanting to be on the Supreme Court when they grow up. Citizens do not hear much about the Supreme Court or how it works. Even now, in college, I have learned some facts about them that I did not know before. Much more attention is paid to the better-covered parts of the government. Of course, I knew what the Supreme Court was, in terms of checks and balances, and have heard of recent cases being overturned. 

Chief Justice John Roberts

I was surprised by the idea that Justices in the Supreme Court are equivalent to judges in lower courts. I knew Justices existed, and I knew they voted in some way to determine the outcomes of court cases, but I did not realize how intense it was for lawyers to be debating in front of nine judges. For some reason, I did not actually know how the Supreme Court cases were heard, I just knew there was a vague process. I also did not know there was one Chief Justice, who oversees all operations for themselves and the other Justices. They address budgets, calendars, and public sessions and hearings. However, being a Chief Justice does not mean that their vote matters more than the others. Each Justice makes a decision separately and then their votes each count as one for the final decision. This is quite dissimilar to the single judge that most other courts have, and their rule is uncontested. 

Takeaways

The most important takeaway about the Supreme Court would be the idea that the Supreme Court cannot function without the trust of the people they govern. Public trust is crucial for the Supreme Court to operate effectively because it relies on the perception of impartiality. The court's decisions impact society at large, and public confidence ensures that its judgments are accepted as just and binding. Without trust in legitimacy, the court may struggle to uphold its role as the judicial branch in the American legal system. This distrust can be caused if the Supreme Court goes against the majority belief of what the outcome should be, or possibly historic inconsistent judgments. For example, in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case from 1857, the Court ruled that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and could not be freed from slavery under Congress. As anti-slavery sentiment was strong, the Supreme Court lost a lot of
public faith with this ruling. 

Before parts one and two of the video, I felt untrustworthy of the Supreme Court. Several of the current Justices are quite old, and I feel that their age may lead them to make decisions that do not better the world of today. For example, there are many dissenters to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, of which I am one. In almost every category (excluding partisan separation), over 50% of US citizens disapproved of the overturning. This has been a growing sentiment for a while, and although Justices cannot be politically affiliated, there seems to be a large amount of opinions that polarize the nation and the Justices. After the video, I feel that I understand the evolution of the Supreme Court, and how an institution that was once a pinnacle of fairness and justice may not be anymore. I continue to be untrusting, but I also understand how the Founding Fathers developed the judiciary branch and its functions.

Sources of News

    I do not always keep up with every piece of news and information that comes out today. However, it is valuable to everyone to know what is going on with the world. Those that are my age are approaching their first time to participate in an election, and so we should become educated. 

    Sifting through information can be difficult, so we have to choose our sources wisely. I spend a lot of time on computers, whether doing things for fun or for work, and so I do not watch or read the classic sources of news. I tend to stay away from watching TV or reading newspapers. Here are the places I get my information from:

Word of mouth 

    This is usually the first time I hear about a new piece of information. I like to keep it this way, as my friends know what I like or find interesting and will filter things for me. I have a lot to think about on a day to day basis. Word of mouth ranges from my parents telling me to my peers. Often, I hear about the same event from different sources, which I think is crucial to hear several perspectives. When I am at work, I also have this coworker that loves to tell me about global international events, and so we spend a while researching it together. 

Google 

    After I hear about something, I like to turn to Google. I can get both a broad or specific view of what is going on. Sometimes I am directed to other sites like Wikipedia or digital newspapers. On Google, I know that most information is accurate on well-known sites, so I can verify what people say to me. I also have access to people’s opinions on the events or new information. I do not tend to use Google unless I already know the topic I will be looking at.

YouTube

    In my dorm, I have two monitors, so I like to turn on YouTube whenever I’m doing something menial. This is the second place where I hear about new information, or look up a topic I find interesting. I watch a lot of media analysis videos, generally about books or movies I have read or watched recently. I like to hear the different opinions that people have about the new content that is being put out. Sometimes, one person will analyze a piece of information in a certain way, while another person will have a similar but different thing to say, which I enjoy. This is also a less serious way of looking at news. I also keep up with game creators or players, since this is a topic interesting to me.

Instagram

    Most people I know have Instagram, so this is a good way to send information to me. The benefit to Instagram is the sharing post features, so I can send posts to my friends and they can send them to me. This is similar to sharing information through word of mouth, since my friends do the filtering of important information for me. Also, the algorithm generally caters to things I find interesting, and I even find some helpful videos about getting internships and other professional opportunities there. 

The New York Times

    I do not visit this newspaper every day, but I ended up signing up for a free account to look at some articles for a class and then kept the account. I have a Google Chrome extension that lets me see the articles for free, so I will look every once in a while at the newest technology news. I know this site is quite reputable and well-known, so I have confidence in turning to it.