Bluetooth

Bluetooth technology, invented by Dutch engineer Jaap Haartsen while at Ericsson in the Netherlands, eliminated the tangle of cables for short-range connections. Haartsen’s 1994 patent specified a frequency-hopping spread spectrum method that supported data rates of 1 Mbps with power consumption under 100 mW—a 60% reduction in power compared to the average incumbent RF solution of the time. This allowed seamless pairing of over 5 billion devices annually by 2020. Though less compute-intensive than the microscope (ranked #1), Bluetooth’s 10-meter range and universal compatibility made it the de facto standard for wireless peripherals.