Log-in to add movie to favourites

Movie added to favourites

Movie removed from favourites

General Magic

A tale of how the great vision and epic failure of General Magic, the "greatest dead company in Silicon Valley", changed the lives of billions.

Director

Sarah Kerruish, Matt Maude

Year

Genre

Box Office

$20,046

Production

N/A

Awards

2 wins & 3 nominations

You Might Also Like

Eddie Murphy: Delirious, All the President's Men, Ad Astra, The Gentlemen, Taken, Interstellar, Joker, Tenet, Snowpiercer, Parasite, Me Before You, Kill Bill: Vol 1, Get Out, The Thing, Forrest Gump, The Fly, 500 Days of Summer, Old Boy, Inside Out

Cast information not available.

No reviews yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this movie

Explore 588 Clips

So we got a ton of coverage,
a ton of coverage, - General Magic

So we got a ton of coverage, a ton of coverage,

Are they going to be able
to actually fulfill
on that vision?" - General Magic

Are they going to be able to actually fulfill on that vision...

Thank you very much for being
here. What do you see as your--
your startup date - General Magic

Thank you very much for being here. What do you see as your-...

We'll be talking about dates
and about product features - General Magic

We'll be talking about dates and about product features

- That's correct.
-OK, OK. So-- - General Magic

- That's correct. -OK, OK. So--

...written record of it.
Um, but what we have,
we have sort of... - General Magic

...written record of it. Um, but what we have, we have sort ...

Moments where somebody has
to start doing something and,
uh, what we have decided is - General Magic

Moments where somebody has to start doing something and, uh,...

No questioning of Could I be wrong None - General Magic

No questioning of Could I be wrong None

And then there was
this one day where
I came to talk to all of them - General Magic

And then there was this one day where I came to talk to all ...

We don't want you, because
we don't need a manager.
Our leader, our leaders - General Magic

We don't want you, because we don't need a manager...

Managers are just going to get
in the way. We don't need
program managers, - General Magic

Managers are just going to get in the way. We don't nee...

There was a fearlessness
and a sense of correctness, - General Magic

There was a fearlessness and a sense of correctness,

Because that's what
you need to break
out of earth's gravity, - General Magic

Because that's what you need to break out of earth'...

And that momentum comes
from suppressing introspection - General Magic

And that momentum comes from suppressing introspection

The Alliance was the
biggest and most complicated - General Magic

The Alliance was the biggest and most complicated

Sony and Panasonic
hated each other, - General Magic

Sony and Panasonic hated each other,

We needed to become independent, - General Magic

We needed to become independent,

It was the first,
so called, concept IPO, - General Magic

It was the first, so called, concept IPO,

What made that possible?
The imprimatur of Goldman Sachs. - General Magic

What made that possible? The imprimatur of Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs was the gold
standard for investment banking. - General Magic

Goldman Sachs was the gold standard for investment banking.

If Goldman was going to do
your initial public offering,
it meant that you too - General Magic

If Goldman was going to do your initial public offering, it ...

Didn't have a product,
didn't have a revenue stream, - General Magic

Didn't have a product, didn't have a revenue strea...

One of them came and said,
"I must have a piece of the IPO. - General Magic

One of them came and said, "I must have a piece of the ...

What would it take, what--
if I gave you the shirt off
my back, would that do it? - General Magic

What would it take, what-- if I gave you the shirt off my ba...

And I said, "Yeah. It would!"
And he stripped down... - General Magic

And I said, "Yeah. It would!" And he stripped down...

-Don't film this stuff. - General Magic

-Don't film this stuff.

And there we were
standing in the conference room
with a half-naked banker. - General Magic

And there we were standing in the conference room with a hal...

So then they didn't make
any 44260s in five volts without
this, right, enable thing? - General Magic

So then they didn't make any 44260s in five volts witho...

Probably the most
challenging part of the product
was deciding what not to do. - General Magic

Probably the most challenging part of the product was decidi...

What to do and what not to do,
because it's really hard,
you're building - General Magic

What to do and what not to do, because it's really hard...

For me, I had never
done anything like that.
It was a huge challenge. - General Magic

For me, I had never done anything like that. It was a huge c...

You really had to work very hard
to build what we were
trying to build. - General Magic

You really had to work very hard to build what we were tryin...

I really had to up my game
and they were all like,
"Fadell you're doing it wrong. - General Magic

I really had to up my game and they were all like, "Fad...

You should be doing it
that way." And I'm like, "No,
I think it's the right way." - General Magic

You should be doing it that way." And I'm like, &q...

Once we got the basics
there, you take the new chip
that had - General Magic

Once we got the basics there, you take the new chip that had

We could see it,
we could touch it and feel it. - General Magic

We could see it, we could touch it and feel it.

But the responsiveness of
the device was really slow. Uh,
the processor was underpowered, - General Magic

But the responsiveness of the device was really slow. Uh, th...

I was sitting in a lot
of the user test labs. - General Magic

I was sitting in a lot of the user test labs.

Don't, don't tap that. No, it's
not there, it's over there!" - General Magic

Don't, don't tap that. No, it's not there, it...

The thing
at the bottom that kinda
looks like a comb, - General Magic

The thing at the bottom that kinda looks like a comb,

Like some operating systems
had little spinning wheels - General Magic

Like some operating systems had little spinning wheels

Finally you just pull out
the battery and reset
the device, - General Magic

Finally you just pull out the battery and reset the device,

- target for
re-bunking. - General Magic

- target for re-bunking.

And, you know, it's slowly
dawning on us, like we are not
gonna get this done. - General Magic

And, you know, it's slowly dawning on us, like we are n...

The roadshow for
the General Magic
public offering - General Magic

The roadshow for the General Magic public offering

We've got a roadie crew
that has to set up
the cameras and the big screen - General Magic

We've got a roadie crew that has to set up the cameras ...

What we envisioned is something
in your hand that's with you
all the time, that allows you - General Magic

What we envisioned is something in your hand that's wit...

I would go out in the hallway
and I would pretend to be
an airline company - General Magic

I would go out in the hallway and I would pretend to be an a...

The roadshow succeeded
beyond everybody's wild
expectations. - General Magic

The roadshow succeeded beyond everybody's wild expectat...

The first concept public
offering in Silicon Valley
history - General Magic

The first concept public offering in Silicon Valley history

We were kings of the universe,
and it was really fun. - General Magic

We were kings of the universe, and it was really fun.

Today we would call it
going viral. The press loved us. - General Magic

Today we would call it going viral. The press loved us.

I was just afraid Marc thought
things were just too easy to do. - General Magic

I was just afraid Marc thought things were just too easy to ...

We were so distracted
by all the articles, - General Magic

We were so distracted by all the articles,

You know that we're
gonna conquer the world,
but yet we hadn't finished. - General Magic

You know that we're gonna conquer the world, but yet we...

We were not paying attention
to the other external trends
that were happening around us, - General Magic

We were not paying attention to the other external trends th...

Put simply
the internet is just
a network of networks. - General Magic

Put simply the internet is just a network of networks.

In recent years,
a relatively unknown
communication system, - General Magic

In recent years, a relatively unknown communication system,

And we had an intern who's like,
"Hey everybody, - General Magic

And we had an intern who's like, "Hey everybody,

It was probably late 94' early
95' and you could go to every
Website at that time. - General Magic

It was probably late 94' early 95' and you could g...

And it was all very rough,
you know there was mostly text. - General Magic

And it was all very rough, you know there was mostly text.

Uh, having graphics was leading
edge and we were working on
this rich multimedia system - General Magic

Uh, having graphics was leading edge and we were working on ...

This other force
had appeared and we weren't
looking at it, you know. - General Magic

This other force had appeared and we weren't looking at...

We were in bed with AT&T
with our private cloud. - General Magic

We were in bed with AT&T with our private cloud.

The whole point about having
a closed network is that people
had to pay to use it, - General Magic

The whole point about having a closed network is that people...

The problem was pivoting toward
the World Wide Web, that would
have meant cannibalizing - General Magic

The problem was pivoting toward the World Wide Web, that wou...

I have to invest the time,
the time to keep banging
on the web - General Magic

I have to invest the time, the time to keep banging on the w...

But even though it was
all here, right in front of us, - General Magic

But even though it was all here, right in front of us,

One of our
developers, Pierre Omidyar,
very quiet, soft spoken guy. - General Magic

One of our developers, Pierre Omidyar, very quiet, soft spok...

He had a Webpage, and down
at the bottom it had a click
through called Auction Web. - General Magic

He had a Webpage, and down at the bottom it had a click thro...

Every once in a while
I would pass his desk - General Magic

Every once in a while I would pass his desk

You know, is it something you
think is a good idea? I'd like
to turn it into a-- - General Magic

You know, is it something you think is a good idea? I'd...

Lots of luck. We're
not interested, have fun." - General Magic

Lots of luck. We're not interested, have fun."

He tried to get
lots of people to join
and nobody would join - General Magic

He tried to get lots of people to join and nobody would join

He had this pony tail
down to his waist. He didn't
look like the kind of guy - General Magic

He had this pony tail down to his waist. He didn't look...

We had him in our
midst, and we had no idea. - General Magic

We had him in our midst, and we had no idea.

He was, he was a tech support
engineer and a very quiet guy.
We had no idea. - General Magic

He was, he was a tech support engineer and a very quiet guy....

Meanwhile we are
hearing about, you know,
the partners - General Magic

Meanwhile we are hearing about, you know, the partners

Any deferral of schedule
is very politically charged, - General Magic

Any deferral of schedule is very politically charged,

Sony was just, you know,
insistent about that, like,
"Where is it? Where is it?" - General Magic

Sony was just, you know, insistent about that, like, "W...

Uh, we're still evaluating that,
to see whether we can
meet that date. - General Magic

Uh, we're still evaluating that, to see whether we can ...

We expect to be delayed
by approximately one quarter. - General Magic

We expect to be delayed by approximately one quarter.

-What is going on here?
- I've
just gotten a little sick - General Magic

-What is going on here? - I've just gotten a little sic...

We are a little slow sometimes
and we have a lot of bugs,
but so what? - General Magic

We are a little slow sometimes and we have a lot of bugs, bu...

I started to understand
where the cracks
were starting to begin - General Magic

I started to understand where the cracks were starting to be...

This is kind of the pet
shop where the animals are kept, - General Magic

This is kind of the pet shop where the animals are kept,

When I pick the cat up, it kind
of scrunches up against - General Magic

When I pick the cat up, it kind of scrunches up against

These really
creative people, but they would
have these flights of fancy. - General Magic

These really creative people, but they would have these flig...

I mean, they would just go off
in all kinds of crazy directions - General Magic

I mean, they would just go off in all kinds of crazy directi...

And during that time,
the Newton shipped. - General Magic

And during that time, the Newton shipped.

General Magic poster

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

A tale of how the great vision and epic failure of General Magic, the "greatest dead company in Silicon Valley", changed the lives of billions.

User Rating: 0.0 (0 ratings)

Director: Sarah Kerruish, Matt Maude

Writer: Sarah Kerruish, Jonathan Key, Matt Maude

Production: N/A

Genre: Documentary

Year: 2019

MetaScore: 69/100

ImdbRating: 7.4

BoxOffice: $20,046

Released: 12 Jul 2019

Awards: 2 wins & 3 nominations

Homepage:

Also watch: Eddie Murphy: Delirious, All the President's Men, Ad Astra, The Gentlemen, Taken, Interstellar, Joker, Tenet, Snowpiercer, Parasite, Me Before You, Kill Bill: Vol 1, Get Out, The Thing, Forrest Gump, The Fly, 500 Days of Summer, Old Boy, Inside Out