I remember the first Android phone. It was small, and had a real keyboard. It's not that it can't be done, it's that it's cheaper to not have one, and they can get away with it because of the lowest common denominator consumer.
Meh. I remember thinking "but why?" when the "high res" screen phones came out. It did the job, and I didn't really see the point in a higher resolution back then. Honestly, if I had the choice, I'd go back to that device in a heartbeat, low-res and all.