I never heard of General Magic yet the product first envisioned by this company that crashed and burned goes with me and, likely, you every day. This is why I have to say this documentary tells a fascinating and important story. The story of how a device now a part of the entire civilized world had a difficult birth. This is the story of a spin-off from Apple called General Magic. A company with the core right ideas that came to be the smart phone over a decade ahead of the explosion of the first iPhone finally defined the dream. The two guys who were closely linked to both the iPhone and the Android open source phones were right there in the beginning at General Magic. It is heartbreaking General Magic folded before their grand idea became the most ubiquitous personal device the world has ever seen.
There's a lot to digest here. Things like mind-blowing ideas before all the technologies needed to realize it was even close to fruition. The way peripheral forces, like the explosion of the internet, disrupt, information/communication/ entertainment at a mind-boggling pace (i.e. the original General Magic device was only for an AT&T closed network which, perhaps, was it's only major conceptual pitfall). And, the pain and resilience of people who put it all on the line only to be defeated yet have to continue on. This is a story of the intersection of humanity, business, and technology in a kind of battle for the win. Fortunately most of the human element of the failed General Magic rose again, some quite spectacularly. Who knew this defunct and virtually unknown company's story was so compelling? It is and I highly recommend this documentary. What General Magic dreamed up is likely with you at virtually all times. If in only the realm of a grand vision they hit the ball out of the park. BTW, don't worry about the sometimes low quality of visuals and sound as it's mostly not a big problem as some comments seem to deduct points for.
There's a lot to digest here. Things like mind-blowing ideas before all the technologies needed to realize it was even close to fruition. The way peripheral forces, like the explosion of the internet, disrupt, information/communication/ entertainment at a mind-boggling pace (i.e. the original General Magic device was only for an AT&T closed network which, perhaps, was it's only major conceptual pitfall). And, the pain and resilience of people who put it all on the line only to be defeated yet have to continue on. This is a story of the intersection of humanity, business, and technology in a kind of battle for the win. Fortunately most of the human element of the failed General Magic rose again, some quite spectacularly. Who knew this defunct and virtually unknown company's story was so compelling? It is and I highly recommend this documentary. What General Magic dreamed up is likely with you at virtually all times. If in only the realm of a grand vision they hit the ball out of the park. BTW, don't worry about the sometimes low quality of visuals and sound as it's mostly not a big problem as some comments seem to deduct points for.