In the early ’90s, a crew of ex-Apple dreamers—including Tony Fadell (father of the iPod), Andy Hertzfeld (Macintosh OG), and Megan Smith (future U.S. CTO) dreamed up the iPhone.
It was just 10 years too early.
Personal Note: I’m highly biased about the General Magic documentary. I interviewed the CEO Marc Porat and the key team members (Andy, Bill, etc.) for InformationWeek Magazine.
Trailer for “General Magic”
Watch “General Magic” for Free
You can stream the entire “General Magic” documentary for free here on YouTube:
…or on Kanopy here or Hoopla here (both require a library or University card).
It’s also free (with ads) on The Roku Channel, Fandango, Tubi and PlutoTV.
You can rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play. Or check JustWatch for current streaming options.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 94/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 882/100 (Audience); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Directed by Sarah Kerruish (who was the Writer for “Moon Shot” (1994) and Matt Maude.
Kerruish shot much of the archival footage back in the ’90s while working inside General Magic, giving the film its deeply immersive, time-capsule feel.
Release Date: Tribeca Film Festival premiere on April 20, 2018; wider release in 2019.
My Review of “General Magic”
The Setup
General Magic was born in 1990 from a dream. CEO Marc Porat called it the “Pocket Crystal”—a glass slab you could carry in your hand that would hold all your communication, knowledge, and tools. Sound familiar? That was 17 years before the iPhone.
This wasn’t a fantasy either—they actually built it. Touchscreen. Wireless modem. Emoticons. App-based UI. All there.
But when the device finally launched in 1994, it flopped.
Too early. Too expensive.
And yet… the seeds they planted became the future.
You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up
- Marc Porat’s “Pocket Crystal” pitch from 1989 reads almost exactly like an iPhone keynote—18 years before the iPhone existed.
- People were sleeping outside the company’s doors just to get job interviews.
- The company invented emoji (sort of)—their early messaging system included proto-emoticons to capture tone.
- Despite raising tens of millions and partnering with Sony, AT&T, and Motorola, the product launch bombed and the stock price collapsed—total implosion.
- Yet alumni went on to create the iPhone, Android, eBay, LinkedIn, the Apple Watch, Nest, and more. Failure never looked so successful.
More Highlights from the Doc
- The doc includes stunning archival footage from inside General Magic in the early ’90s—filmed in real time by co-director Sarah Kerruish and David Hoffman.
- The emotional gut punch comes when reality hits: missed deadlines, tech not ready, market not ready, and engineers realizing their dream is slipping away.
Cameos
- John Sculley, former Apple CEO who approved the spinout and early funding of General Magic.
- Tony Fadell, then a 20-something engineer, shows flashes of the fire that would later power the iPod and Nest.
- Andy Hertzfeld (legend of the original Macintosh team) is seen building the Magic Cap OS from scratch, struggling with interface choices that look shockingly modern today.
- Megan Smith, one of the few women engineers at General Magic—later became Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. under President Obama.
- Bill Atkinson, a key exec at General Magic, offers candid reflections on how ambition and ego collided with real-world limits.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Marc Porat insisted on filming almost everything—believing they were documenting history in the making. Turns out, he was right, just not in the way he imagined.
- General Magic staff lived at the office. People slept under desks. Others came in barefoot. It was a startup before “startup culture” had a name.
- Some engineers—like Hertzfeld—had moments of doubt, admitting that building a dream team doesn’t always mean you’ll build the dream product.
- The film shows Marc Porat’s original “Pocket Crystal” sketches—hand-drawn visions of a digital assistant in your pocket that eerily resemble the modern smartphone UI.
- The company’s fall was so dramatic that stockholders sued after the IPO crash, and the once-hyped device quietly vanished from shelves by the late ’90s.
Wrap Up
“General Magic” is about the startup that dreamed too big, too early—and changed the world anyway. This isn’t a nostalgia piece; it’s a time machine for understanding how tech’s future was born in failure.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc