[Update: a G1 Rap Song From Rob] T-Mobile No Longer Offering the G1
While Google stopped offering the Nexus One well before the Android engineers took full advantage of its hardware, we can’t say that the device has reached “true” end-of-life: Google’s just not going to be the ones to get it into your hands. Unfortunately, the original “Google Phone” (Remember that one?) – what we hold close to our hearts as the T-Mobile G1 (or Android Dev Phone 1 and HTC Dream for a lot of you) – is officially being given its walking papers.
After a year and nine months, the first Android phone to start the craze that we salivate over today has been officially pulled from the market. It was a very ambitious device: 192MB of RAM, 256MB of internal storage, 512MHz Qualcomm ARM11 processor, a 3.2-inch HVGA screen, and one of the greatest keyboard designs we’ve ever seen on a smartphone. At the time, this was state of the art merchandise: you weren’t “hip” if you didn’t have one of these (and you aren’t “hip” if you actually use that word).
Unfortunately, technology moves so fast that the G1 eventually couldn’t keep up. Even with groups like Cyanogen still bringing the latest innovations out of Google’s Mountain View, California campus to the G1, they have to sacrifice hardware intensive features (the “bells and whistles” as some may put it) to keep the little engine going. Over time, new devices have emerged that would eventually overshadow the G1. Throughout your Samsung Galaxy phones, your MyTouch 3G handsets, and your HTC Heroes, the G1 could still hold its own.
Unfortunately, those devices are nothing compared to the devices we have today. New processor technology, more RAM, better cameras, more internal storage: just better and more of everything across the board. The day’s come where the pioneer that started it all has to lay his hat down and walk away from it. We’ll never forget the G1, but we will proudly move on as we realize it’s done its job in ushering in a new era of smartphones. It didn’t just influence the way we use them, but the way we think about them – Android users cherish their phones, the operating system it runs, and the mascot that carries the big green flag with unrivaled tenacity. The ship will continue to sail for a long time coming – and new “flagship” devices will take the helm each and every month – but the G1 will always be the phone that started the movement of the fastest growing mobile operating system to date.
[Update]: I almost forgot that I promised Rob I’d find some way to get this video back onto the site. It had to be the right time, and it had to be relevant. I can’t seem to think of any other time that would be better than today to honor the G1. I present to all of you (that didn’t see it back when he first “dropped” it): G1 Love by Rob Jackson.
[via Android Guys]