September 8, 2025
That Polaroid photographs so dominated 80s-era household albums and popular culture gives the square-framed, typically off-color snaps a retro appeal that at present is celebrated by enthusiasts and aped by billion-dollar apps like Instagram. Other Android-powered smartphones existed before the Droid launched in 2009, but this was the primary one in style sufficient to push Android into the highlight. It cemented Google’s Android platform as the iPhone’s largest competition. (And sowed a rift between Apple and Google, which had previously been shut allies.) Verizon is alleged to have poured $100 million into advertising the gadget. It seemingly paid off—although neither…