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3 years may not sound like much in people years but in smartphone years — that’s like Clint Eastwood status. It was 3 years ago to this day that T-Mobile officially announced the G1. It was the smartphone that started a revolution. T-Mobile made a booboo today when they tweeted that the G1’s birthday was today, but after cross referencing, the device was actually announced on September 23rd, 2008. The G1 wont officially turn 3 until October 22nd, the day that it was released.
Either way, I can’t believe how far Android has come since then.What’s really weird is how I was feeling nostalgic last night and found myself watching old G1 videos. I’m curious, any Phandroid readers out there still rockin’ the G1? Stock? Rooted? Sound off in the comments!
Thanks, Keller!
[Via Twitter]
I need to get my hands on one just for the novelty of it.
I have one in the drawer next to me. $10… no wait… $1000 dollars for the collectors item.
one of the ugliest, worst phones ever
g1 sold nothing, so no it didnt “start a revolution” like the article suggests
the first android phone, and the sexiest for the time…….it did start a revolution, the android revolution, are u an iclown ? G1 sold enuf, i got mine on day one.
It sold one million in the same time frame as 10 WP7’s on multiple carriers in multiple countries. I think that would classify as a revolution.
Viva la Robolution!!!!
Can’t believe it’s only been 3 years – it feels more like 10!
I still have mine!
It looks so….old
like every other android phone. dated, grid of static icon.
Sounds like somebody is jealous.
They may be outdated by Android standards, but are still far ahead of iOS.
Damn those were the days I remember when we only had like 20 apps and no video player, LOL.
I have two friends who are still using theirs. Tonight they’re going to a sprint store to get GSII’s
They’re about the upgrade THEIR LIFE. :O
i know gs2 is amazing
got my G1 put away and using my G2 now. Its true, its crazy to see the progress from 3 years ago to today.
Cant wait to see what the G3 will be like. Hopefully HTC will make it and hopefully T-Mobile wont screw us over.
Huh, hadn’t even thought about the G3. Now I really want to know!
the last word came in July with that leaked t-mobile roadmap which said the next phone in the G series would be the “g-infinity” but havent heard a peep since….supposedly it would be the flagship phone for ice cream sandwich, but who knows now..all it said was that it would be made by HTC. personally i hope they call it G3.
I was thinking the same thing. G3 related. Though I thought the LG G2X was considered the successor to the G2?
The G3 has to have a keyboard… That’s been the G1 and G2 tradition..
Yea. It was probably just people being stupid. Keyboard and some form of track pad or ball is needed.
you mean hopefully at&t wont screw us
I got 3, one thats sitting all taken apart, one thats bricked (dont try to root a phone in a hurry on little sleep), and another thats rooted with cyanogen 6. it was great for the time. I loved it. I really only began to root them a a little over a year ago because i wanted it to have the tether feature.
I still own one. I gave it to my sister though. Installed 2.3 on it for her and it runs pretty nicely. I don’t like the less-than-256MB RAM part of the phone though.
I did the same thing, I gave my sister a Mytouch then my Nexus One after I bought the Nexus S.
@fermin… I m surpised, T mobile discontined G2 since 6-11-11 :-( … are you sure they going to make new G3??? I hope so! I still use G2 and love it!
Yea… I was thinking the same thing. Until I heard that the LG G2X was suppose to be the successor. Unless that was just people talking and being stupid. Hmm…
Happy Birthday G1/Android. So hard to believe its been 3 years.. Still have mine, its pretty beat up but I will keep it forever and ever. Also, Fuhck yes for the recognition (I’m Keller ;] )
I knew it! xD
And the device was actually announced 3 years ago today (updated the post). It wasn’t released until Oct 22nd =p
I was wondering about that because I got my 2 weeks after it came out in November.
I only stopped using mine in July. I had it modded and tweaked to the absolute razor edge between being cool and not working at all (and a little of both sides).
I still have it here. I’m waiting for it to become a historical artifact.
The G1 was the original reason why I thought Android was a stupid idea, and I continued to feel that way because I was under the impression that Google and hTC were going to collaborate exclusively and do things the way Apple does with iOS. The G1 was pretty ugly in the hardware department and Android 1.X felt like it was in alpha, was pretty ugly, and was slow. Though when I found out Android was open for any OEM, I began to take more interest and when the Droid came out, I instantly bought it, and haven’t regretted it once. I’m still using it, and I’m eagerly awaiting the Droid 4 though I don’t know how long I can manage at this rate. It wouldn’t be such a problem if I could upgrade my RAM like I can with the SD card.
Oh, and I was reminded of this video. No offense, Chris, but you sounded like a really ignorant douche bag who didn’t know what the hell he was talking about in this video and in the comments. But people change.
http://youtu.be/-v8WD7Qe0uA
The G1 was anything but slow when it came out. In fact, it was rather snappy. It took a while to slow it down.
I don’t know, I remember playing around with my friend’s G1 a month after it was first released. I wouldn’t say it was super slow, but it was no lightning quick device and was of course slower than the iPhone (unless you rooted and overclocked).
the og droid made me love android!!! not g1
Android was still raw when the G1 came out. Never thought it would have came so far in such a short time.
when i first saw android, i thought that looks terrible but after seeing all it can do i began to like it.
Are you sure? Did you see this on Tmo’s twitter? I have Dan Morrill circled on Google+ and he is an Android engineer and said:
“Thanks, T-Mobile, but it was 22 October, 2008.
It’s the thought that counts, I guess?”
L.O.L. Updated my post. Hahahahahahahaha!
Apparently it was 3 years ago today that the device was officially ANNOUNCED =p
My 1st Smart phone happy birthday
I still have mine and my wife’s sitting 3 feet away, along with a T-Mobile Dash and an old Windows Mobile phone with a slide keyboard.
Still have mine – Android 2.2.1
my friend has a perfectly working G1 still running stock android 1.5
I didn’t have tmobile then when it came out but my ex-boyfriend had one and used to hate it lol. His life changed when he got that Sensation a couple months back .
I used to think Android was so ugly back then. It felt like pre-alpha back then.
Back then I actually liked HTC Sense because it was needed. But now there’s no point for all these custom skins.
Same here I had rooted my G1 and Google Ion then put HTC Sense on them but once the Nexus One came out Sense wasn’t as good as Stock Android.
That’s a personal opinion. In my own personal opinion stock android is still ugly when compared to Sense.
Still hav my origial G1..not using it tho..its my back up phone just in case
Still rocking my rooted G1 with 2.2 day in and day out. It’s better now than ever.
Still rockin’ my launch day G1 stock, donut, with a 2200mAh battery. Still running strong.
My dad’s using mine with Froyo on it, and my wife’s is still rockin’ stock 1.6 in a drawer in case her MyTouch Slide or my G2 croaks.
Still rootin and romin my ol’ Grandaddy One.
my g1 is destroyed, cracked screen no battery cover , etc but its still runs good old donut. im on to the sony ericsson xperia pro now
I just watched that demo vidoeo. That thing is running better than my overclocked OG Droid is. 8
Although I currently use a N1, I still keep my G1 around for the occasional wi-fi use.
Ahhh the search button… I still dont use it. Yep still have my white G1 the screen is in perfect condition
Sent my G2 in for its _second_ warranty repair (first was a bad microphone flex-cable, this time the touchscreen stopped working _and_ the phone process crashed whenever making or answering calls) and am once more using my G1 with Cyanogen. It’s solid as a rock – I accidentally dropped it onto concrete yesterday, dinged the corner, but it’s working fine. The $12 pregnant whale battery gives me two days standby, and it has a really good keyboard! Wish recent phones were this solid.
I still have MY G1 up in the closet. I switched to a Cliq in mid-2010 because my space bar was having problems and since I voided my warranty it couldn’t be replaced. That was an amazing little phone though. Even if the hardware didn’t look fancy, it felt like it with the rubber coating or whatever. Plus it had one of the best button layouts.
Happy pre-birthday to the G1!
Although loving my X10 these days, I still have both HTC Magic and Dream (Canadian names for My touch 3g and G1) inabsolutely workable condition. G1 changed my world after I jumped on Android bandwagon the very first day it became available in Canada, after few years of being fan of my WinMo HTC phone. I am proudly Android fan now, and it’s so amazing how far we advanced in only 3 years. And thank you Apple, for providing continuously sub-par products we could use to confirm the validity of our choice.
i still have my g1 what a great phone
happy birthday androidddddddddddddd
Preordered it this very day three years ago
Mine is still up-to-date with its CM and I used it in Europe this summer. It was still a sweet phone.
Still use mine had root from day one October 22nd 2008 delivered to my door.
Ahhh I love nostalgia. I rocked a G1 for 2 years, it impressed me, and my friends. before i gave it to my niece it was rooted, running froyo, fast as hell….now i have my G2 for nearly a year, a great successor to the original, amazing fast, ive only just started running low on SD space but i do have 180 apps….but im solving that issue as we speak as ive purchased the 32GB SD card from that one day sale site…..im sure all the extra space will hold me over till october of next year when either the G3, or the G-infinity, or whatever HTC will call it premiers. in that case ill just transfer the SD card over and continue amassing apps….. Happy Birthday G1, a true pioneer in what is truly not just an android revolution, but what i think is now a renaissance, the light at the end of the tunnel has been shown to millions….a path away from the boring static of the iphone, and the revelation of your own personal phone, with no restrictions……the future of android is bright, but i do miss my G1…..
This for some reason brought a smile onto my face. My friend got a G1 for his bday, and I got the MT3G after….I guess for me techie it is a starting point of a whole new generation/revolution!
Good ol G1, I remember when I told my friends who owned iphones about my new phone, they kept telling me it (Android) would never be as widely used as the iphone…..whoops lol. Guess which friends now have android phones :)
I bought the G1 within the first few days of release, then bought the Droid when it hit Verizon.
I sold my trusty rooted G1 on ebay, and you’re gonna love this — the buyer was in Russia. Buyer was delighted with the phone.
i recall pre-ordering the G1 within 10 seconds it was available. I loved T-Mobile, Google, & Linux. that’s why i stood behind Android from the beginning, before anyone i knew did.
gradually the G1 became slow & its internal memory became full. although i loved the UI, between its performance & its looks, i had to replace it. the Nexus One was the only candidate in mind.
when the Nexus One had arrived, i’ve put away the G1 in the cardboard box. although my 10-year-old wanted it, i thought it’d be best that the first Android device be stored away safe from the likes of a kid who wouldn’t appreciate it.
G1 running Ginger Yoshi (Android 2.3.5) as my only phone still. Very tempted to get a SGSII but also trying to wait on the Prime.
same here!
My samsung omnia i910 changed my life till I got the palm pre for my girl and then the htc eris the next day for me. Then my life took an all new meaning I didn’t know that I could be soooooo tech crazy. Now I can do anything to Android, win mob, im now a proud owner of the HTC Thunderbolt, Incredible, My Touch, Lg revolution, Lg Ally, Palm Pre 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab7. Android made me learn about codes, hacking, Operating Systems, Networking, and evetything else. I owe all of that to Android for inspiring a once Heiron addict like myself. Comimg from a ruff life of drugs to getting clean and finding my true passion in Android. I offten think what would of happened if I would of gotten clean but no Android, in my eyes I think I would be back in the streets again. SO THANK YOU ANDRIOD, HTC, AND TMoblie.
got mine on ebay about 1 year ago as a cheap, easily rooted, first android phone(wasnt eligible for an upgrade) rooted, running a cm7 port. im eligible for an upgrade, but waiting for the nexus prime.
Damn look at all that real estate
…i was on SPRINT and i believe i had a BLACKBERRY 9350i.I wanted the G1 so bad. Now,i have a EPIC TOUCH 4G.
Android has come such a long way, especially considering iOS, Blackberry and Windows phones had a huge head start.
My sister is still rocking my old G1 that I bought a week after it came out. Android 1.6 baby!
can we get a moment of silence…
.
Got my G1 in Dec 3 years ago, paid my way out of an at&t contract the moment a VP announced formally that they would not be getting any android phones in the foreseeable future. Been with Tmob ever since, and my heart broke last spring when that G1 toppled from my clumsy, oafish hands into an open toilet, freshly filled with urine.. I’m a bit of a germaphobe but not even half a second passed before my hand was in there! After alot of cleaning (…whole lot) it almost made a full recovery, everything except for the physical buttons. Since that indispensable menu button was physical, the phone was just too unusable. I always intended to keep it around and use Gmote, maybe for navigation or Aldiko e-reading, etc. Sadly it now sits in a box, but still can’t bring myself to throw it away since it boots fine.. I did however upgrade to a Nexus S after that… it changed my world!! There it is, my G1 story now exists on the interwebs forever and ever..ish. May it rest in a few pieces peacefully.
who remembers cupcake chat and waiting for cupcake 1.5 to come ???????
Mine is sadly collecting dust but, only after a torrid love affair, did she get shelved for a new model. One who was easier on the eyes slimmer but..with specs and had screen for days and wasn’t afraid to move fast or swing with Multi-tasking or the really nasty Voice and Data…simultaneously if you know what I mean, nudge,nudge,wink,wink.. But, every now and then when my new love Thunder is away relaxing at the charging port, I sneak over to my ex’s spot pick her up just to reminiscence about the good old days. You know what I am saying, just simplicity,Cupcakes, and good Google……Hmmmm.. I think Archie Bunker said it best Those were the days…But times have changed you became to needy and I needed more. That’s the story of my G1
I’ve since moved onto a DX2 but I’ve got a g1 sitting right here. It was a pretty impressive device thinking about it.
My 10 yr old son is using my G1. I was one of the preorders. My phone came in a week early. There were a total of 9 apps. The one app I remember.was closet. It let you log what you wore day to day….I must admit I thought it was lame.
I can’t beleive its been 3 years already. I still use both a G1 and a Samsung Vibrant. Just pop the sim in the G1 when my vibrant runs out of juice. But i still cannot find a phone that makes me as wholly satisfied as the g1 did. The keyboard as well as the positioning of the trackball was perfect.
I loved my g1 man! It was a brick house! A real tank! Lol
I still use my G1 to this day. Pre-ordered it as soon as it was possible, had it shipped to my door on Oct 22 2008. Have been using it ever since. I had it rooted a couple times but now im back to the orginal Donut, so the phone runs faster. im just waiting for the Nexus Prime to come out (hopefully T-Mobile) to upgrade.
Happy Birthday T1
And just think, here in Canada, contracts are 3 years. So if you got this you’d still be using it.
Just realized after reading through the comments that we have really moved into a new age. An age where now or old phones are actually useful. I am sitting here thinking about when I do get a new phone what will happen to my old phone? Well with Android and its dev community old phones pull household duty. Several D1’s laying around the house making the perfect throne side reading devices or play kitchen duty. Laying around in the man cave for quick internet searches about a video game or something I just saw on TV. No need for grabbing the laptop or getting up to go get it. Just miniature tablets laying around.
Of course we will still have our new devices that do the new, cool, more powerful things, but there will always be a place for these old Android devices around the home or office. My old RAZR or BB Curve could never be able to pull retirement duty like Android devices will do.
Truely a great phone but when the OGDroid and Eris turn 5 that would/should be an even bigger deal as those are the phones that really launched android in the minds of the average non techie consumer thanks to VZW for good marketing
Android just didnt feel done back then though did it?
if only u could upgrade the ram and processer. i would so be using it still.
I still feel like my G1 is still a great phone. I’ll pull it out of storage every so often to mess around with it and it’s just so damn solid. I would be happy to use this phone if it was a bit faster and the screen was larger.
I still use mine as my other phone. I have 2 sum cards, other the battery needing replacement the phone works a treat, little slow compared to the n1 but it is 3 years old. Rooted and running the newest cyanogen that’s out for it!
I took a 1/2 day waiting for the UPS truck to deliver our pre-orders,we were so excited about this phone and what it could do. I still have 1 for nostalgia; Happy Birthday G1!
I just got a $827.89 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HTV for only $251.92, they are both coming tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prîces at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for. I use GrаbPenny.сom
Still have my ADP1, now a dedicated Google TV remote.
I’ve owned two G1s and broke both of them. One is sitting on my desk right now with a cracked display. *cries*
Only 3 years… I’ve still got half that long left on my contract (Verizon Galaxy S1). If we’ve come this far in 3 years, imagine the awesome things that will be out in 18 months!
I was rocking the G1 with Andisa’s version of EZGingerbread and a Seido cell 2600mah up until last week when I purchased my Epic 4G Touch. I still have it and won’t be throwing it out. It is amazing how far Android has come! I wonder what my next Android phone will be like 2 to 3 yrs from now???
i just hope at&t doesn’t kill the g series
My wife uses mine. Its rooted running Cyanogen 2.2
my motorola defy has proved not to be life proof, so reverting back to my old G1, it powered up just fine just a small memory, but hey ho beggars can’t be choosers……