Initially known as Hiptop, the Sidekick was conceived as a compact computer. Nearly a decade before Apple premiered its inaugural iPhone, the creators of the Sidekick were leading the charge on what we now consider smartphones. Eventually, the trio would bring in Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Sidekick’s parent company, Danger Research Inc., was started in 2000 by three former Apple employees: Matt Hershenson, Joe Britt, and Andy Rubin. It’s not hyperbolic to compare the Sidekick to the iPhone. It was the first time that our online personas weren’t tied to our desktops, and could be ignited with one (very cool) swivel of a screen. For a bunch of kids who grew up with dial-up modems, T9 texting, and “free minutes” after 9PM, Sidekicks were the first time many of us could be online and mobile. This era, which feels slightly prehistoric considering that phones no longer have keyboards, is the predecessor of the inescapable internet world we’re living in today. Once Sidekicks trickled down to the hallways of my high school in Jamaica, Queens, they were a status symbol (hence, robbing season)-even if you had no status at all. The problem has become so pronounced that the Boston Police Department teamed with students from the Boston Arts Academy to create a poster - the winning one is emblazoned with the words "Hold on to Your Kick" - reminding young people to keep their phones close and avoid openly texting.The Sidekick was the it accessory of the early-aughts seen on socialites like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, and it replaced rapper’s affinities for the equally trendy two-way pagers. "We've had kids that have definitely been followed and had their Sidekicks stolen." "When the kid's sitting there texting, it's pretty obvious what he's doing," Lepre said. Most people hold the phone with two hands out in front of their body, using their thumbs to text or instant message on the full keyboard. Robert Lepre said the Sidekicks' physical design makes users vulnerable. In Providence, R.I., where a majority of the roughly 190 cell phone thefts last year were of the Sidekick, Police Lt. "It's that young market, Internet savvy, trend-driven market where they'll buy a used cell phone, no questions asked."įor its part, T-Mobile says it has "a long history of working with law enforcement agencies across the country on their investigations." "They have the maximum ability to turn them into cash," Portlock said. Once a Sidekicks is unlocked, thieves often scratch out the phone's identification number and sell the device on Web sites such as Craigslist or eBay. Instead, thieves target Sidekicks because of their urban hipness quotient, and because they're easy to resell. But the Sidekick is not ubiquitous - it has never cracked the list of the five top-selling cell phones since the consumer research firm NPD Group began the ranking in 2005. Thieves have long targeted trendy items, from Air Jordans and Starter jackets to iPods and GPS units. New York City saw a 59 percent surge in subway robberies in December compared with the previous year, driven largely by thieves targeting high-end cell phones, especially the Sidekick.Īnd Adrian Portlock, whose company tracks stolen cell phones, ranks the phone among the most-taken worldwide, even though the Sidekick's primary market is the United States, where it is available for $100 after a rebate. Although the Sidekicks - which have flashy flip screens and the youthful cachet of endorsements by rapper Snoop Dogg and basketball star Dwyane Wade - aren't among the country's best-selling phones, they might be the most stolen ones.īoston police reported more than 300 stolen Sidekicks in 2008, accounting for 14 percent of all robberies in the city.
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