General Magic (2018) User Reviews

How The Company That Invented The Concept of a Smart Phone Failed

[AudioFileZ · 7/10 · 17 July 2019]

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.

Great look at General Magic

[jefff-02374 · 7/10 · 11 July 2019]

This video is a great look at General Magic, a company the employed a lot of top talent from Apple (who was a major investor). They created the concept of a smartphone and tablet, but failed ultimately because the market wasn't ready. Their pioneering work made today's smartphones and tablets a reality.

Note: There were audio problems with this video when it was first released making it almost impossible to hear the voice over. That appears to be fixed now.

How can failure turn into success?

[rannynm · 8/10 · 20 April 2019]

This is a very interesting documentary about the development of technology as we know it today and how failure can turn into success. I learned a lot about the development of the smartphone.

It tells the story of a technology company called General Magic and their struggle to make a smartphone, all while trying to keep it a secret from other companies that could steal their ideas.

It is easy to understand. I like how they illustrate things. For example, they use ocean waves to describe the coming and going of companies. The story is told by former General Magic employees, who know best about what happened since they were a part of it.

They frequently cut to show beautiful landscapes throughout the film. My favorite one is a beach, but they also show city skylines, forests and other interesting places. The music is very 80s and helps establish the time period. The message of the film is that sometimes, failure for one person can help another person to success.

It has some very mild profanity and there is mention of somebody being naked, but it is never shown. I give this 4 out of 5 stars and recommend if for ages 12-18 as well as adults.

Reviewed by Kayenta C., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org.

Great Documentary

[chaosmacleod · 9/10 · 7 September 2019]

I really enjoyed learning about General Magic. I wasn't aware of the vision this company had, it's seems like they were right about so many things. Very interesting and I would very much recommend this film.

Silicon Valley history; sound issues fixed

[agggma · 10/10 · 23 July 2019]

First off, I watched this on Showtime and the sound was perfect.

If you care about Silicon Valley history or are just an Apple fan, this is a must see.

An excellent film that tells the rare story of the most consequential company to fail... but which was not really a failure, because the people and ideas, fueled technologies and devices that changed the world.

Longest Music video ...ever!

[martinerskine · 2 November 2019]

If you listen very closely you can hear people speaking. This has got to be the most stressful documentary I've ever watched. Even with headphones on I can barely make out around 90% of what people are saying..

The amazing pioneering vision of mobile computing

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 4 April 2020]

"General Magic" (2018 release; 95 min.) is a documentary about the Silicon Valley start-up company of the same name. As the movie opens, a voice-over reminds us that "Failure isn't the end, it's the beginning. Was General Magic a failure?" We then go back in time, to 1984, the year Apple introduces the Macintosh, when a Detroit kid named Tony Fadell recounts his geeky 16 yr; old self, dreaming of bigger things to come. We then get to know Mark Porat, who recounts how in 1989 he came up with the concept of what we know these days as a smart phone. He shows us his 1989 drawings, which look remarkably like the iPhone of today. It's not long before he starts a company called General Magic, funded by 16 major investors including Apple, AT&T, Sony, and other big names... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this documentary is co-written and co-directed by Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude. Kerruish was invited by General Magic in 1992 to come and take a look at how a tech start-up functions, and film for posterity. As a result, we are treated to lots of archive footage from those times, and what a treasure trove that turns out to be! Aside from the footage, the story itself of General Magic is of course a fabulous one, and truly a case of a company ahead of its time. As Fadell explains, the 90s was a time of one failure after another (leading to the tech bubble burst in the early 00s), but that lots was learned along the way, Still, it blows the mind that certain people like Porat had the bold vision to foresee mobile computing, "a device you will always want to have with you", per Porat, almost 2 decades before that became a reality.

"General Magic" premiered at the 2018 Tribeca film festival to positive acclaim, and found its way onto Showtime in 2019. I recently caught it on SHO On Demand, and enjoyed it. How is it possible that the name General Magic isn't known better by the public at large these days for its true pioneering vision of how interwoven our lives would become with our smart phone. If you have any interest in business in general, or the history of technology, I'd readily suggest you check this out on VOD or on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Great movie about a fascinating company

[thekkepat · 10/10 · 16 July 2019]

Tech/SV tends to glorify successes. It was nice to watch the deconstruction of how General Magic was created and then failed.

Especially interesting were all the interviews with Tony Fadell (founder of NEST), Marc Porat (CEO of General Magic) and their perspective on how the company imploded.

Also, how did they get a hold off all that old footage??

Great piece of Silicon Valley history but.....

[timseery · 7/10 · 10 July 2019]

General Magic is one most significant companies you never have heard about or have long forgotten. It is mother of PDA, iPod and iPhone, born of great technical ambitions and innovation.

But the background music drowns out the characters telling the story. I was able to adjust the audio with my sound system.

An inspirational film of rebirth

[christophercatton · 9/10 · 26 September 2019]

A moving story of how even our greatest can fail so painfully and then how they build themselves back up. Plus who'd have thought you could come out thinking John Sculley wasn't the evil villain he's always made out as despite again being one of the main antagonists of the story.

I had none of the audio issues others have complained about, the music was poignant and the interviews captivating.

Great topic but background music TOO LOUD

[crfloyd916 · 7/10 · 12 April 2020]

This could have been a great documentary, but for me it was unwatchable because the background music was so loud. It was hard to hear the subjects and then I became so irritated by the music volume I had to turn it off. Who approved the editing of this? Such a shame because it's a great topic.

General Magic: a cautionary tale?

[simon-66678 · 9/10 · 2 October 2019]

"I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time/ I'd have said the right thing but I must have used the wrong line / I been in the right trip but I must have used the wrong car" - Dr John

I was lucky enough recently to be invited to a private screening of this fantastic documentary. Expertly scripted and beautifully shot by co-directors Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude, the film uses archival footage and contemporary interviews to document the somewhat giddying rise and fall of an early 90s tech start-up, the eponymous General Magic.

I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but here's the short and sweet of it. Spun out of Apple and led by the immensely charismatic Marc Porat (surely the inspiration for Halt and Catch Fire's Joe MacMillan), General Magic brought together a veritable super group of technologists to build what was, to all intents and purposes, the world's first smart-phone. And remember: this is a good 15 years before the iPhone. The team attracted the attention of the great and good of the tech and investment world - and the cash that went with it - then launched a product to almost complete indifference (at one point in the film someone notes that pretty much all of the 4000 customers who bought the device were friends and family of the team). The fall-out was, well, predictable.

Most documentaries - or for that matter feature films - about the tech scene tend to fall into one of two categories. The first follows a company through its travails and on to its apparently inevitable success. The second is some kind of exposé of tech's "dark side". Both have their place, I guess, but this was something else: a funny, genuinely exciting and often very moving, first-hand account of a company that apparently had the world (and certainly Wall Street) at its fingertips, created a potentially world-changing bit of tech, and crashed and burned almost on launch. And yet there is a phoenix side to the story: many of the key players went on to change the world - not least in some cases by working on said iPhone.

One of the most telling things to come out of the documentary for me was the degree to which the team simply missed the advent of the internet - or more accurately the web. One of the problems with hindsight is that it leads to a kind of tech determinism, that such-and-such was always inevitable. But when you're in the thick of it, it's easy to miss something whose manifest success is potentially years out and not at all clear at the time.

On the way home I kept thinking about The Yardbirds. Relatively unknown now, the Yardbirds were an easy 60s British blues boom group that had only a modicum of success, yet spawned the careers of three of rock music's most influential guitarists - Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and the greatest of them all (imho), Jeff Beck. Who saw that coming? And whoever does?

Honestly, anyone interested in the rise of tech and its intimate relationship with venture capital should see this fantastic film.

Ahead of time the stupid excuse

[grrgcctr · 6/10 · 27 December 2022]

So if I start a company just now, sell the grand idea of, for example, quantum computing in your smartwatch, sell the idea to investors, get a lot of money, invest a lot of money to hire top talent, try to build it, makes some steps towards the goal, go bankrupt because, you know, it's not the right time or the market is not ready and I spent all my money, and after 20 years someone actually builds the quantum smartwatch (when it's actually feasible), then I will be a visionary and someone will come and make a documentary about the failed origin of everything my entreprise was, making it look awesome instead of labeling it as what it was closer to, a scam?

When we actually should be putting General Magic and my quantum smartwatch next to what it was closer to: wework, theranos or the fyre festival? And Mr Marc Porat and me, the visionary, closer to Jules Verne?

Portraying General Magic like this is not a fair assesment of what happened and the consequences.

Worst sound mixing I've ever encountered.

[peterstenbergkiruna · 3/10 · 9 July 2019]

This was almost unwatchable because of the loud music drowning out everything people said. I would have rated it 8/10 if it didn't have any music (which didn't serve any purpose) but as it is I can only give it 3/10.

A very interesting story, once you hear the correct sound mix.

[mafv · 9/10 · 20 July 2019]

Showtime screwed up the audio when they first broadcast this, which led to dozens of permanent bad reviews here, because the music was louder than the dialog. The problem has been fixed, I have watched the stream in the Showtime app and it now sounds fine.

It's a fascinating tale for people interested in technology and even though I was working in the business at the time and know some of the people in the movie, I had never heard the whole story before.

An inspiring story of failure.

[n-64142 · 10/10 · 29 June 2019]

This is an amazing heartfelt film that tells the story of what happens when a group of insanely talented individuals experience a super nova failure and the powerful results thereafter. It's a cautionary tale for aspiring entrepreneurs, an inspiring story of dreaming big, and a human story of understanding what it's like to push against the edges of what's possible.

Visually it beautifully weaves together historical footage with intimate interviews and mesmerizing drone footage.

Highly recommend this film for anyone who's ever dreamed big, for those who want to know what the other side of failure looks like, and for everyone who loves a well told and heart felt story.

A company that was a great failure and a great success at the same time.

[TxMike · 17 January 2020]

I watched this at home on DVD from my public library. I see that a number of reviews here complain about the sound mix, I want to state that there is absolutely NO sound problem with the version that is on DVD. This is an excellent documentary, a glimpse into Silicon Valley innovation and what can determine if a company succeeds.

I am a technical guy and worked in a technical career. As I watched this story unfold it brought to mind the first two rules of a group technique called 'brainstorming.' First you generate lots and lots of ideas without regard for whether they are practical or implementable. That unbridled synergism of ideas can be very creative. Second, at some point you switch to the evaluation mode, selecting the subset of really good ideas that can be implemented given time, technology available, budget, and market factors.

The early 1990s Silicon Valley company called General Magic, an Apple spinoff, was really good at the first but mostly neglected the second. They forged ahead with what they envisioned, ignored the advent of the worldwide web, and didn't verify that consumers really wanted what they were inventing, a personal device that replaced a computer, a fax machine, a telephone, and who knows what else.

So they ultimately failed and went bankrupt , partly because their parent Apple used their ideas to forge ahead and create something that came online sooner. But more so because their product was not properly targeted. Yet the ideas they generated, the projects that former General Magic technologists undertook, have changed our world in 25 short years in ways we could not have imagine. Had it not been for General Magic our ways of communication and social media, for good or bad, would not be as it is today and we would not have had devices like Iphones and Ipods.

So, while they failed as a company, their ideas have gone on to big successes.

Who mixed this film??

[tocanepauli · 6/10 · 23 September 2019]

This is a fascinating film ruined by the too loud music! While you are trying to hear all the motivated people speak, you are assailed with music that is so annoying I wanted to turn it off. It is incessant and muffled the speech of everybody! Way to ruin and good story!

So impressed.

[kevinrustagi · 10/10 · 24 July 2018]

As someone who has spent the past 4 years in Silicon Valley, this was revelatory.

A narrative and a sense of honesty permeate this documentary. I liked that they weren't afraid to really dig in with the material and the people.

I was an intern working on the iPhone 5 back in 2010, and I had no idea this company existed. But more than a specific story about the Valley, it has a lot to share with those outside technology as well.

It's about personal relationships, resilience, and searching after our dreams when it's hard.

Thank you to the filmmakers and magicians who participated in this. I can't thank you enough.

• kevin rustagi, 7/23/2018.

Great lesson for investors

[davidantzelevitch · 6/10 · 24 May 2021]

A group of egotistical computer nerds who think they're changing the world by pulling all nighters. Trying to build a smartphone a decade before the technology is ready is simply moronic. And everyone who invested in it should be embarrassed.

A real life tech rollercoaster

[DylanBooth · 10/10 · 23 July 2019]

Loved this doc. Was gripping and emotional. I had no idea what it was about when I walked in and was so satisfied after. Please see this movie it talks about the human condition, and everyone can relate to the journey.

is foreground music a thing now?

[rngwrm · 6/10 · 12 July 2019]

It's already been said, but i'll say it again: you can't hear what anyone is saying over the music. much thanks to those reviewers who mentioned subtitles, as the thought hadn't occurred to me in the first 21 minutes. once that issue was resolved, the rest of the doc is great. you just can't see what's happening on screen, because you're too busy reading the movie. it's a good story, anyway.

General magic

[caroleweller · 9/10 · 5 October 2019]

Watched on showtime so no issues with the sound. Fascinating history of Silicon Valley and the early development of what is now the iPhone, incredible old footage. Although not a geek this film was thoroughly enjoyable and showed how many companies and products may not quite get it right first time. Highly recommended for anyone with interest in tech or social history.

Remix the audio and I'll try watching again.

[jeremy1967 · 4/10 · 10 July 2019]

Seriously, who signed off on the audio mix for this? I couldn't watch for more than 10 minutes due to the obnoxiously loud music. Half of the time I could not understand what was being said. Even when I could understand, the loud music was just too much to take and made me want to turn it off. I can only guess that something went wrong when this was handed off for broadcast, because I find it hard to believe it went out the door like this.

incisive, gripping roller coaster of a video not just about business - but passion, success, luck... and timing!

[richard-2086 · 10/10 · 18 June 2019]

In essence, a remarkably forensic - and incredibly entertaining - look at a more innocent time when the fledgling company, general magic, looked like they might change the world.

the biggest "takeaway" for the audience is where the young guns who slept on the office floor ended up... as leaders, instigators and innovators for life-changing mega brands of the 21st century... inc apple, android and ebay as a starter.

not just for students of business - general magic is a must see for those who love a great story told very well.