A documentary by Troniction

Two Kings: a history of Arduino and Bluetooth

Two Kings is a documentary about how the two technologies on every maker's bench, Bluetooth and Arduino, were both named after kings: Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and Arduin of Ivrea. It is told in five parts, and each part gets a page here with its narration, every fact with its source, and every image with its credit. The film runs 40 minutes.

40:00
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Two Kings: a history of Arduino and Bluetooth

The whole film, from the beginning. 40:00 long: two kings, a radio, a board, and how they ended up on the same bench.

Link added at release

The five parts

Each part has its own page: the narration line by line, the source behind every fact, and every image with its credit.

  1. Act 1 · 2:00–7:00

    The king and the radio

    How a tenth-century Danish king gave his name to a short-range radio.

    /two-kings/bluetooth-history/

  2. Act 2 · 7:00–14:00

    The king and the bar

    How a lord of Ivrea, a typewriter town and a design school gave Arduino its name.

    /two-kings/arduino-history/

  3. Act 3

    The wire-cutting era

    The cheap Bluetooth modules that cut the wire between a board and a phone.

    Coming with the film

  4. Act 4

    Low Energy changes everything

    How Bluetooth Low Energy changed what an Arduino could talk to.

    Coming with the film

  5. Act 5

    Now and next

    Where Bluetooth and Arduino are now, and where they go next.

    Coming with the film

The research so far

51

facts cited in the 2 parts published

45

sources, 33 primary

6

common claims corrected

19

archival images, each credited

163 facts have been checked for the whole film so far. Each part's page lists the ones it uses.

How the research was done

  • Every date, name and number in the narration was checked against a source before it was recorded. A claim that could not be sourced was cut.
  • Primary sources come first: the organisation, the person or the document itself. Secondary sources are reputable press and reference works.
  • Where the popular version of a story is wrong, the page for that part says what it says and why it is wrong.
  • Real photographs and documents are used only with a licence, and each one is credited.
  • Places, people and eras for which no footage exists are reconstructed, and marked DRAMATISATION on screen for the whole shot.

Two Kings: a history of Arduino and Bluetooth, by Troniction. The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Arduino® is a trademark of Arduino S.r.l. Neither endorses this film. Image credits and licences are listed with each image.