Although today’s smartphones look almost the same, in the early days of Android there was a greater variety of external components. They had more buttons, They offered one with a dedicated magnifying glass for research, physical keyboards were not strange and there was an element as practical as it was versatile: the trackball. Sometimes I even miss it.
That little ball that my first Android had at the bottom of the front gave a lot of play at the time. Mimicking BlackBerry phones like the legendary Bold, my HTC Magic allowed the phone to be controlled with the trackball, I could accept options by pressing and, what I loved, the ball lit up with colors with notifications. A show that has disappeared forever from Android.
Physical keyboard, many buttons… and trackball
HTC Dream
The history of Android starts from the original idea of creating an operating system for digital cameras to leading to a alternative to BlackBerry on smartphone: Andy Rubin and his team wanted to build on the Linux kernel to obtain an open system designed to improve use as a smartphone. Initially, they didn’t intend to include a touchscreen. Although this idea was turned on its head with the launch of the iPhone in 2007.
When the first Android hit the market a year after the iPhone’s introduction, with the HTC Deam/G1 as the hardware device, the phone remained halfway between a BlackBerry and an iPhone. Touch screen, although full keyboard under the panel; multitude of physical control buttons and the trackball. I loved the trackball on BlackBerrys, so I loved it on Android too.
HTC dominated the early years of Android. My HTC Magic was added to the HTC Dream/G1, an upgrade with a little more power; which was then followed by the HTC Hero, also in the BlackBerry spirit, but with greater control over the touch screen. And the pinnacle of Android with trackball has arrived, the Google Nexus One Also made by HTC, but distributed by Google.
In addition to allowing scrolling, Android illuminated the trackball with notifications waiting to play
The central control trackball allowed you to scroll through the entire operating system, I remember it being very useful; although it was often faster to tap directly on the screen (back then keystrokes weren’t as precise and reliable, I must point out). This vestige of the early days functioned as a perfect extension of use for move around web pages, via the Twitter timeline and to see notifications without sound. There has never been a better notification LED, I’m convinced.
And the touch screen won the battle
Google Nexus One
Little by little, and with the spread of Android to more manufacturers (notably with the first Samsung Galaxy, which started a trend), the vestiges of the BlackBerry began to disappear until the phones mobile phones finish focusing on the aesthetics of the iPhone. The HTC Desire is another good example of the touchscreen winning, as is the Motorola Milestone/Droid. From 2010 and without trackball (although Moto kept the physical keyboard and cursors and HTC an optical trackpad).
The physical keyboard may come back from time to time – even physical navigation buttons are found on some ultra-rugged Androids – but The trackball is an element that has disappeared never to return. And it wouldn’t be bad either, even if just for notifications: it was one of the best things about my beloved HTC Magic.
Cover image | Font Susana
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