Bluetooth: the Next Big Thing?
Watch out Walt Mossberg, Al Roker's got your number on this whole "technology pundit for the common man" thing. He teamed up with Cat Schwartz on the Today Show to get to the bottom of this whole Bluetooth sensation that's sweeping the country. Will something finally dethrone infrared from its dominant role in our wireless lifestyle? Only time will tell. Video is after the break.

















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ryan @ Feb 21st 2008 1:28AM
skinny Al Roker is dumb
Naveed @ Feb 21st 2008 1:36AM
well that segment was a few years late
AJ in the East Bay @ Feb 21st 2008 1:38AM
Yeah! Bring back Fatty Al, er, Fat Albert...never mind.
I liked how the linked site reads "Watching this quick segment...". I'm like, "QUICK segment?". There was nothing quick there, not even Al rockin out to the Beastie Boys.
Hadn't seen Cat since the days of TechTV...
~~Tito~~ @ Feb 21st 2008 1:39AM
Yes, yes it was late, about 7 years late. . .
Mike Jenkins @ Feb 21st 2008 1:47AM
Yes, I've been "Bluetoothing" for quite a while.
Gorillamonk @ Feb 21st 2008 11:57AM
yes...what did happen to cat? and what else can she do upside down? seems she's been training for some tech olympics.
Dr. Evil @ Feb 21st 2008 12:24PM
I heard there was a petition among African-Americans to officially certify Al Roker as white.
As a pre-emptive move, I'm starting a petition saying we don't want him either.
brian @ Feb 21st 2008 1:42PM
Make sure to post yesterdays segment to, its very informative. Its called "DVD: the next big thing?" it explores this technology that is sweeping the country, and the controversy surrounding storage of information on plastic discs.
TJ Johnson @ Feb 21st 2008 1:36AM
What's infrared? Frankly, if I can't see it, it doesn't exist.
Wires FTW!!
Jordan @ Feb 21st 2008 1:41AM
I think therefore I am.
Austin @ Feb 21st 2008 1:51AM
You obviously don't understand what is happening in the picture above. Yes, bluetooth is a wireless communication technology, but what you don't know is that it is a spirit that needs to be summoned. by pressing a few buttons, or in Al Roker's case, calling it down from heaven with a woman as human sacrifice.
Gavin @ Feb 21st 2008 5:39AM
austin, funniest comment i've ever read on engadget.
Bryan Thornsberry @ Feb 21st 2008 1:37AM
Fantastic. This should finally end the dilema I face at my store when all the jobless slobs who can stay at home to watch this crap come in asking the tewnty-thousand dollar question of "whats a bluetoof.", followed by "how much."
Not saying ignorance isn't widespread beyond that demographic...
Sam Winter @ Feb 21st 2008 6:18AM
hahahh
animeGhost @ Feb 23rd 2008 3:28PM
hey its better than a having a customer asking "whats better, plasma or hdtv"
nxtiak @ Feb 21st 2008 1:37AM
Must be a slow news day for them... BT headsets really? If it was 5 years ago great, but today when every joe six pack walks around like a fool with one in his ear????.
sigh.
TJ Johnson @ Feb 21st 2008 1:39AM
It doesn't matter how old the stuff on your show is if no one watches your show in the first place.
Well, except those idiots in the window behind the set. Wait, did I just inadvertently admit to something here?
Tony @ Feb 21st 2008 2:32AM
Slow news day? No my friend, this is part of the plan.
Bluetooth, Blu-Ray, can't you see the connection!?
prisoner 01 @ Feb 21st 2008 1:38AM
hi and welcome to 1998
thank you and good bye
meike @ Feb 21st 2008 1:22PM
thats what she said.
Aaron @ Feb 21st 2008 1:38AM
Ow, it hurts, it hurts.
nxtiak @ Feb 21st 2008 1:41AM
So, what kind of laptop is that?
Is that the DELL M1330 LIKE IT SAYS ON THE SCREEN REALLY BIG?!?!?!?
nxtiak @ Feb 21st 2008 1:44AM
Wait, is that Cat Schwartz from the good 'ol days of TechTV????
If it is, I remember her as being much more hotter.
ZeroCorpse @ Feb 21st 2008 1:57AM
That's because you're thinking of her nekkid pictures, and because she's about a decade older now, and has probably squeezed out some puppies and is taking a break from looking hot.
Rae @ Feb 21st 2008 1:44AM
isnt bluetooth when you eat a blue raspberry icy? ?
i keed i keed
Len @ Feb 21st 2008 1:48AM
oh man that rocking was funny :)))
why making such a big deal of bluetooth so late ... it has been out for years and it has been awesome for years ...
oh that printing took FOREVER .. they didn't even show it :S
wlp @ Feb 21st 2008 1:51AM
do people who actively read engadget need a how to on bluetooth?
Jason Martin @ Feb 21st 2008 1:53AM
Come on, guys. This is the Today Show! Of course they're wowed by them new fangdangle things, like Bluetooth and flashing lights. It's the "People Magazine" of television. Mocking them for their lack of tech-savvy is like shooting fish in a barrel. Move along. Nothing really out of the ordinary here.
Alex R @ Feb 21st 2008 3:26AM
@ Jason Martin
Why would anybody ever need to shoot fish in a barrel? It would waste bullets, put holes in your perfectly good barrel (that would drain the water and kill them anyway)and why bother shooting them becasue you have already caught them - hence they are trapped in a barrel. Silly phrase really.
Jason Martin @ Feb 21st 2008 3:47AM
Exactly to the point.
webon @ Feb 21st 2008 1:55AM
is bluetooth similar to sweet tooth?
TJ Johnson @ Feb 21st 2008 2:00AM
Shhh!! Never mention sweet tooth out loud. It makes Roker angry.
ZeroCorpse @ Feb 21st 2008 1:55AM
Next Week on the Today Show:
Monday: We look at "HD-DVD", a cool new type of videotape.
Tuesday: Criss Angel makes his credibility disappear.
Wednesday: Remember "Pong"? Well now there's something called "Playstation" and it's WAY more sophisticated than "Pong"!
Thursday: Tom Cruise explains his importance to the universe, and shares cooking secrets.
Friday: New teen slang. Do you know what "fo' shizzle" REALLY means? A report you can't miss!
peter @ Feb 21st 2008 2:28AM
come on people give some credit to zerocurpse
Ferny @ Feb 21st 2008 2:05AM
"who wants my pictures?"
certainly not me.
johnnychipface @ Feb 21st 2008 2:30AM
Yeah but I like the way Al was like "Ah well, I don't know. Depends on what the pictures are." - Translation "I want to see your gash".
tiuk @ Feb 21st 2008 2:07AM
Alright, yeah, we can all have a laugh at the thought of people who still haven't heard of Bluetooth. The sad truth is, a large percentage of the population (I won't even try to guess) hasn't heard of it, and this is a quick way of getting them interested. I can tell you for a fact that my mom has no idea what bluetooth is, but if she were to see something like this she might be interested in getting a headset or something (not likely in my mom's case, but you can see where I'm going with this).
Also, I give them credit for at least mentioning the possibility of bluejacking.
Kushari.org @ Feb 21st 2008 2:11AM
"you can walk around your house talking on your cellphone" and i couldnt have done that before? she should have rephrased it to have all phone calls from all devices hands free.
DP @ Feb 21st 2008 2:13AM
"Talk to each other." -- truly hilarious.
johnnychipface @ Feb 21st 2008 2:30AM
Blind leading the blind.
LegendZ28 @ Feb 21st 2008 2:36AM
You guys seem to be missing the boat on just who the audience of this show is.
jdeuel @ Feb 21st 2008 2:37AM
Why do tech folks have to be such dicks to nontech folks?
Head over to whatever car news site google turns up first and look at how many times they insult your car-illiteracy
Instead of masturbatory "Ho ho, those stupid tech people couldn't even reassemble a drive train"'s, they focus on the news.
skulldriveshaft @ Feb 21st 2008 3:08AM
"why do tech folks have to be dicks to non-tech folks?"
You mean, why are non-tech folks dicks to tech folks.
Why do "nerds" get picked on in schools?
Dilbert and The Pointy Haired Boss are a prime example.
Let's move on, Al Roker is keepin his job, and probably received enough requests for an explanation of bluetooth.
Mike @ Feb 21st 2008 3:20AM
That's because tech people haven't ran a TV segment called "Drivetrains: the new kid on the block that allows your steering wheel to modify your car's direction." If we did do something like that, I guarantee you car lovers would make fun of it.
It's not like we're asking them to reassemble a Bluetooth module on the spot (which is what they'd have to do for your analogy to work correctly).
spacegravity4me @ Feb 21st 2008 3:39AM
Because it's our revenge for all those years in school! So suck it!0 Technologically illiterate, ignorant non-nerd person! ;P
jdeuel @ Feb 21st 2008 4:15AM
yeah, i'm sure none of you ever called anyone a "jock" or "prep"
johnnychipface @ Feb 21st 2008 4:27AM
The problem is that people are being spoken to as retards.
Berto @ Feb 21st 2008 2:38AM
So this "bluetooth thing" works when the nanotechnologies "talk" to each other, right? And we're morally against it?
Neil Bradley @ Feb 21st 2008 2:45AM
Someone should get this guy in touch with Rick Romero.
Kyanges @ Feb 21st 2008 2:58AM
"Bluetoothing". New non-verb for the 21st century.