T-Mobile Sidekick
Year First Appeared
2002
Creator
Andy Rubin, Joe Britt, Matt Hershenson
The T‑Mobile Sidekick (also called the Danger Hiptop) is an early‑2000s smartphone/communicator famous for its swiveling display that flips to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, designed around cloud‑backed email, instant messaging, and web browsing. Originally produced by Danger in partnership with T‑Mobile, the brand was later revived as the Android‑powered Sidekick 4G.
Importance in Internet Culture
The Sidekick popularized always‑on mobile chat, cloud‑synced browsing and a curated app catalogue, foreshadowing the app‑store era and demonstrating the power, and risk, of centralized cloud services for mobile devices.
Interesting Fact
In 2001, Apple co‑founder Steve Wozniak joined Danger, Inc.’s board of directors, linking the Sidekick’s early history to one of computing’s most iconic figures.