3 HN users recommended this documentary2 months2023–2026score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Recommended as a fun and illuminating watch on early mobile computing, especially in threads about Bill Atkinson and Telescript.
A feature-length documentary on General Magic, the 1989 startup that envisioned the smartphone and handheld connected devices, featuring Tony Fadell, Andy Hertzfeld and Marc Porat. It covers the company's vision and eventual failure.
“check out the documentary[0] on General Magic which Bill co-founded in 1990” (HN, 2025)
If you haven't, check out the documentary[0] on General Magic which Bill co-founded in 1990. Among the more remarkable scenes in there is when a member of the public seems perplexed by the thought that they would even want to "check email from Times Square." An unthinkable future, but they thought it. And yet, most folks have never heard of General Magic. 0. [this video]
Documentary on General Magic, which Bill Atkinson co-founded; early vision of mobile email
Atkinson at this timestamp: [this video] Also, it's here in the documentary that someone expresses the excitement anticipating the smart phone. It's hard to watch for me now and not shake my head, "Oh, it's not quite as wonderful as you imagined."
Timestamp of Atkinson and anticipation of the smartphone
This headline isn't great. It's an interview with Tony Fadell who invented the iPod, iPhone, and Nest thermostat. Before the iPod, Fadell worked at failed PDA maker General Magic. The interview doesn't get into other 90s attempts like the IBM Simon, Palm Pilot, or Apple Newton. There's also a documentary about General Magic: [this video]
Documentary on General Magic where Fadell once worked
Well, the Macintosh team certainly thought they were. There's a YT video about General Magic that tries to paint them that way, and they thought of themselves that way at the time. [this video] Take it all with a grain of salt.
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