android On this day in 2008...

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

... the first Android Phone went on sale in the US: The HTC Dream, also known as the T-Mobile G1.

Android has come a long way since - both the operating system and the hardware it's running on.

Who knows what the Android ecosystem will be like four years from now.

[Timan Veteran]

And it still has 4.1 before a majority of android devices (hacked i know, but still to the point)

Crazy how much times have changed.

[Chasethebase Reporter]

And it still has 4.1 before a majority of android devices (hacked i know, but still to the point)

Crazy how much times have changed.

I can imagine it runs at a snail's pace though.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Woah, I don't remember seeing this...why does it look like they attached the set of buttons at the last minute?

[Sarm]

Woah, I don't remember seeing this...why does it look like they attached the set of buttons at the last minute?

That's because you've not see how it opens...

[Prince Charming]

Wow, they really were ghastly phones. Shocked if anyone is still carrying their half-brick about.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

That's because you've not see how it opens...

Oh I see! Well yeah, I remember those being more common. Thanks. (Y)

[jamieakers]

Wow, they really were ghastly phones. Shocked if anyone is still carrying their half-brick about.

I had one of those phones and at the time they were lightyears ahead of their competition! Granted they now look like bricks, but show me one piece of technology that doesn't look dated over time. The keyboard worked great, the stock build of Android was zippy and it simply worked. My only qualm was the shiny paint chipped off way too easily.

[Dick Montage]

but show me one piece of technology that doesn't look dated over time

I am a huge Android fan... But I still say the design of the iPhone has help up well to time.

[Haggis Veteran]

I did not have that one but i did have the HTC Hero which was the next model lol

[carmatic]

i would give anything to have a phone with a real keypad nowadays! but its a sacrifice i had to make for having a waterproof phone... then again, it isnt surprising that a reasonably priced waterproof phone would be running Android

[BattleDaggit]

The design hasn't aged a day. It still looks just as ****ty as the day it came out. Things have improved HUGELY though.

[Prince Charming]

Given that the iPhone came out a year before and is still sporting a mostly unchanged iconic design true to the original, I'd disagree with the sentiment that everything looks dated.

The G1 was an atrocious plastic monstrosity when it came out, and it isn't looking any better now.

[BajiRav]

I had one of those phones and at the time they were lightyears ahead of their competition! Granted they now look like bricks, but show me one piece of technology that doesn't look dated over time. The keyboard worked great, the stock build of Android was zippy and it simply worked. My only qualm was the shiny paint chipped off way too easily.

It was lightyears ahead of the iPhone? heck it was worse than WinMo6.x of the time. It sucked, period.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

That keyboard was one of the best, I have ever used

[notuptome2004]

the issue with the phone at the time is not the hardware per-say but the fact that at the time of Andriods introduction on to smartphones Mobile OS area and such it lacked a tone of features and was just basic least seems that way today anyways .

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

it lacked a tone of features and was just basic least seems that way today anyways .

Talking about the features, it had a flash-player, multi-tasking, and copy-and-paste ability years before iPhone, not to mention a tonne of UI customizations.

[contriver87]

it had a flash-player

Unfortunately the G1 never officially got Flash because an ARMv7 processor was required and the G1 was only ARMv6.

[Arceles]

I still got that phone as main phone... waiting for the RAZRi to go down in price unlocked...

[Growled Member]

Phones in general, and Android specially, has come a long way since then.

[benthebear]

My roommate got one of those not too long after they came out, and I wanted one so bad. I still think it was a great phone...for 2008...

[thealexweb]

I did not have that one but i did have the HTC Hero which was the next model lol

Actually the HTC Magic was the next device :p

[Haggis Veteran]

Actually the HTC Magic was the next device :p

I meant the next G model

the Hero was the G2

[UKDarkJedi]

No the G2 was the Desire Z http://www.gsmarena.com/t_mobile_g2-3518.php

I loved the G1 at the time it came out, really wanted one but was tied into a contract on a dumbphone at the time :(

[Xilo]

Meanwhile, iOS hasn't changed much at all.