The ideas that dominate the tech industry and our day to day lives were born at a secretive Silicon Valley start-up called 'General Magic', which spun out of Apple in 1990 to create the first handheld personal communicator (or "smartphone"). The film combines rare archival footage with powerful honesty from the "Magicians" today, reflecting on the most influential Silicon Valley Company no one has ever heard of. Featuring legendary members of the original Macintosh team, alon... (Full plot summary below)
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The ideas that dominate the tech industry and our day to day lives were born at a secretive Silicon Valley start-up called 'General Magic', which spun out of Apple in 1990 to create the first handheld personal communicator (or "smartphone"). The film combines rare archival footage with powerful honesty from the "Magicians" today, reflecting on the most influential Silicon Valley Company no one has ever heard of. Featuring legendary members of the original Macintosh team, along with the creators of the iPod, iPhone, Android and eBay.
Leave your thoughts about General Magic.
| VarietyNick SchagerAs a literal origin story about how we live today, it’s a captivating history lesson with global appeal. |
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe step-by-step examination of how so many smart people with such a good idea failed so badly results in a film which offers up not only a crackling story but also enough lessons that it could be a Harvard Business School case study all by itself. |
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckProvides a compelling history of a company that created a groundbreaking product that was unfortunately ahead of its time. |
| The New York TimesBilge EbiriGeneral Magic is engaging, but there’s a tougher, tighter film in here struggling to get out. |
| The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyIf one is not already paranoid about the relationship of politics, money, and the tech sector or about the industry’s general lack of perspective on itself, then this sort of uncritical puff piece should do the trick. |
