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Android was purchased well over a year before the iPhone was unveiled. And remember that the iPhone was seen more as an expensive iPod, not necessarily a chall

Android was purchased well over a year before the iPhone was unveiled. And remember that the iPhone was seen more as an expensive iPod, not necessarily a challenger for the most prevalent software platform in the world, for a very long time after its release. So it really is a stretch to portray Android's early history in terms of competition with the iPhone. Microsoft was the threat. Google was expanding into desktop software like Desktop Search, Google Earth, and Picasa by the mid-00's and MS was playing hardball. Google filed a lawsuit against them in 07' over being handicapped in desktop search performance. And Microsoft was already investing billions in web search, so the threat of deeper integration of search into the world's most popular OS was a major long-term threat.

bgramer 15y ago
You're all forgetting about Blackberry and Palm. Page and Brin purchased Rubin & Co.'s Android to compete against Blackberry and Palm as well. The earliest Android models borrowed heavily from the BB and Palm interface as well as Windows. It wasn't until iPhone came out that Google realized Apple created a game-changer and decided to pursue that direction. Here's what the original Android prototype looked like: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/11/607064683d89c69ec3d135d46fe35925.jpg http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/11/607064... Looks very similiar to the other Windows/BB/Palm phones at that time. To Rubin's credit, his former company Danger created a great interface with the HipTopOS (aka T-Mobile's Sidekick) that used the trackwheel pretty well.
- hammersend 15y ago
  There were multiple Android prototypes as the OS was designed to run on different form factors from touch-less candy bars to devices like the HTC Dream that had a full touch screen. Here's another prototype: http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-touchscreen.jpg http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-touchscreen.jp... http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-history.jpg http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-history.jpg showing the latter configuration. The fact that the myth of Android being a Blackberry clone until the iPhone came out is a text book example of something being repeated so many times that people just think it's true. Of course there was a prototype that looked like the Blackberry but it was just one prototype. There were obviously others.

bgramer 15y ago

You're all forgetting about Blackberry and Palm. Page and Brin purchased Rubin & Co.'s Android to compete against Blackberry and Palm as well. The earliest Android models borrowed heavily from the BB and Palm interface as well as Windows. It wasn't until iPhone came out that Google realized Apple created a game-changer and decided to pursue that direction. Here's what the original Android prototype looked like: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/11/607064683d89c69ec3d135d46fe35925.jpg http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/11/607064... Looks very similiar to the other Windows/BB/Palm phones at that time. To Rubin's credit, his former company Danger created a great interface with the HipTopOS (aka T-Mobile's Sidekick) that used the trackwheel pretty well.

hammersend 15y ago
There were multiple Android prototypes as the OS was designed to run on different form factors from touch-less candy bars to devices like the HTC Dream that had a full touch screen. Here's another prototype: http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-touchscreen.jpg http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-touchscreen.jp... http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-history.jpg http://www.osnews.com/img/25264/android-phone-history.jpg showing the latter configuration. The fact that the myth of Android being a Blackberry clone until the iPhone came out is a text book example of something being repeated so many times that people just think it's true. Of course there was a prototype that looked like the Blackberry but it was just one prototype. There were obviously others.