Your screen wasn't always huge.
The original iPhone, and many versions after it, was probably 4 times smaller than the current phone.
Even on the current large iPhone screen the dropdown lists (instead of scroll wheels) are usually a pain to navigate because they are often a much smaller target and don't allow mistakes (you mis-click on an item, you have to open the dropdown again)
I agree on keyboard filtering though.
Even now it's stupid they don't offer keyboard filtering.