From the first smartphones to social media, e-commerce and even emojis, the ideas that now dominate the tech industry and our day-to-day lives were born at General Magic, a 1989 Silicon Valley startup that most of us haven’t heard of.
Last night I had the pleasure of watching a 30 minute trailer for General Magic The Movieand meeting some of the founding employees of General Magic. The event was hosted by Sapphire Ventures and SAP.
Like most, I’d never heard of the company; and I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What I found most compelling is what a team, utterly unbounded, can achieve. It was pure creative innovation at its best. Their dreams have literally become our reality.
In the end, the company itself failed, but their ideas and inventions live on today.
When asked by an audience member what they would have done differently, they said they would have done one thing really well and shipped, instead of trying to do everything perfect the first time.
Sounds obvious today, but considering what they were actually trying to achieve, I don’t think they would have had nearly the impact on the world.
I need to stop here, because I don’t want to give to much away. But I highly recommend you watch the movie and read up on General Magic. It will likely inspire the next generation of creators.