2006 – 2008retired
HD DVD
“No region codes, no hard feelings — it just lost the war and went home early.”
“It flipped open, thumbed its last message, and the cloud quietly took everything with it.”
The T-Mobile Sidekick (born the Danger Hiptop in 2002) was a horizontal communicator with a screen that swiveled 180 degrees to reveal a QWERTY keyboard made for two-thumbed typing. It packed a full HTML browser, AOL Instant Messenger, email, and downloadable apps, all synced to Danger's back-end cloud services. Cofounded by Andy Rubin, who would go on to create Android, Danger built a phone that felt like it was alr
Production ended after 2008, and because its data lived on Danger's servers rather than in your pocket, the end of the service meant the end of the device. Most models were made by Sharp, and its DNA — cloud syncing, messaging-first design — clearly lives on in the smartphone it inadvertently foreshadowed. Rest easy, little swivel screen; your author went on to bigger things.
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“No region codes, no hard feelings — it just lost the war and went home early.”
“It told the time by FM radio, and somehow that was beautiful.”
“Three guns, one gorgeous glow, and 280 million living rooms better for it.”