Trackball nostalgia

T

thatdewguy

New member

Sep 14, 2010

1

0

• Apr 12, 2012

• #1

Despite the fact that it's been roughly 3 years ago we were gifted by the miracle we know as android, there has been a major paradigm shift in design among phone manufacturers; gone are the days of the once mandatory, perpetually useful, but seemingly redundant trackball.

My first smartphone was an HTC Droid Eris; although I have a much better, faster phone now, I miss the convenience of having the trackball for scrolling through web pages, photo albums, and long lists of contacts or Facebook friends.

This is a tribute to the trackball, and a call to those who design our future lifelines: offer a high quality phone with a trackball again - it is a convenient feature that takes up next to no physical space.

Please contribute to this discussion in whatever way you see fit, hopefully there are others who miss the trackball...


Sent from my VS910 4G using XDA

 

KRAZYADROIDMASTER

Senior Member

Feb 1, 2011

1,449

80

• Apr 12, 2012

• #2

I miss the trackball sometimes.

Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

 

C

carlodalatri

Member

Jan 15, 2012

36

1

• Apr 12, 2012

• #3

The trackball is a tool that I think you a lot more streamlined.
For some, however, does not like, depends on the tastes!
.... I like it!

 

9

9unk

Member

Nov 20, 2010

24

4

• Apr 12, 2012

• #4

I still have one... Unfortunately I can only dream of a fancy new android so am stuck with the very old HTC hero.

Still runs alright though with an OC and villainrom.

Gonna save my pennies for the HTC One S

Anyway back on topic. I don't use the trackball often but it is useful every once and a while. Great for stopping in the right spot in an e-mail to modify an error or add some text.

 

beanboy89

Senior Member

Jun 7, 2011

290

77

Pennsylvania

• Apr 12, 2012

• #5

Its nice having the trackball to be able to pinpoint exaxt locations in text boxes or select links in webpages with very small text. Both of the smartphones that I have owned have had trackballs (G1 and Nexus One). I'm looking for something a bit newer (leaning towards an Atrix at the moment) and it looks like I will be hard-pressed to find another with a trackball.

 

B

bakerb4379

Member

Apr 13, 2012

20

2

• Apr 13, 2012

• #6

My first track ball was on a Blackberry Pearl, and it was great, especially since I could change the LED's and make the thing light up different colors...

But yes, I miss the trackball, mostly for when I'm trying to correct text. It's a big pain in the ass when I have to tap my screen like a moron to get at my sentence.

I also miss a hardware keyboard too.... oh G1, come back to me...

 

C

chislon

Member

Mar 26, 2012

29

195

Toronto

play.google.com

• Apr 13, 2012

• #7

Larger touch screens and improved response took away the need of the trackball completely.

I think the implementation was rather poor on the G1. It was not made for speedy selection so much as for precision.

Not really missing it much...

 

adelmundo

Senior Member

Oct 10, 2010

579

70

San Ramon, CA

• Apr 13, 2012

• #8

Well they brought the S-Pen (aka advance stylus) back in my GNote, maybe you'll see the trackball again someday.

 

vetvito

Senior Member

Dec 31, 2007

3,154

181

• Apr 13, 2012

• #9

remember when we thought all Google phones would have a track ball and the forward hump?

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

 

guza88

Member

Apr 6, 2012

35

1

Novi Sad

• Apr 13, 2012

• #10

Ahhh... The track ball....

Had it on G1 and I liked it. My first Android phone and the first one with track ball. I remember that it was weird at first but after some time, you get used to it.

G1 really was something else at the time.

 

S

spunker88

Senior Member

Sep 8, 2006

1,318

334

Upstate NY

• Apr 13, 2012

• #11

They support the mouseover event in webpages in Opera, with only a touchscreen there is no way to hover over an element. Physical arrow keys also work for many of the things you could do with a trackball and I never noticed how much I use the arrow keys on my Droid 3 until I go to a phone without a keyboard.