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Ten years ago, the first Android commercial smartphone, the T-Mobile G1, was launched. While he came on the heels of the iPhone and was, of course, seen as a Google desperately looking after Apple. But in the 10 years since that fateful September day, Android has grown from what was thought to be another failed Google experience to the world's largest smartphone platform, transforming smartphones and the tech world. some of the features of the iPhone en route.
It may be that the first Android phone was named HTC Dream (sold by T-Mobile as G1). It all started with a dream and it was not even the dream of Google originally. This dream was Andy Rubin's dream, while his company, Danger, was still making the famous T-Mobile Sidekick, the Danger Hiptop. Anticipating future mobile wars and not content with any existing solution competing with what was still called "iPhone OS", Google has acquired the newborn Android, Inc. from Rubin and the rest, as they say , is history.
We have come a long way since then. The HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 could not be farther from today's smartphones. Young people today could even laugh at old technology as they do for floppy drives and Walkman tape players. It was bulky, heavy, and had a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that even BlackBerry would not dare to use.
Today's smartphones are all screens, a design that Apple had insisted on right from the start. But it is Android that pushed this to the extreme. Although Google has provided guidance and examples regarding the ideal screen sizes, this has not stopped companies like Samsung from creating what would be considered a phablet niche market. Apple is making fun of this ridiculous size until it comes out with the "Plus" iPhone models. Now, its iPhone XS Max competes with the biggest Android smartphones and the "phablets" have become the norm.
But while Android smartphones have made progress, there have also been times when they have taken a step back. Almost all OEMs have now adopted a monohull design and, as such, have lost the ability to replace dying batteries with new ones and have to replace the entire phone once production is complete. Some probably consider removing the headphone jack as a similar regression.
Of course, the biggest changes have been in the software. We are now on Android 9, simply called Pie, which is actually the 28th level of the API. It has become a platform on which many manufacturers, application developers and content providers count to reach more than 2 billion people. Although there are certainly some things that we always want better, the openness and flexibility of Android have allowed it to be used in places and cases of use which Google could only dream of and Apple would never approve.
And it's something that has remained more or less constant in Android over these 10 years. There were indeed times when the (corporate) powers preferred to exert an iron pressure on the platform, but in the end, Android remained the best performing open source mobile operating system in the world. market. And that will remain the case thanks to a rather complex dynamic between Google, the handset manufacturers, the developers, the regulators and the defenders of the free software.
The story is far from over, of course. We are just marking the 10th anniversary of the Android phone on the market, not death. Much remains to be done, things that Google or even Rubin may never have imagined more than 10 years ago. The notch has definitely taken everyone by surprise. And the coming arrival of foldable smartphones. Mobile gaming is also changing the smartphone from the inside and, soon, Lightphone's vision of a 9-camera smartphone is no longer so ridiculous. And Android phones will continue to push the boundaries of mobile computing to make our lives more convenient and interesting.
Happy birthday 10, android phones! Here is another 10 years and whatever sweet dessert will come after Android 19 "Z".
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