Re I remember this The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPhone in 1993

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mike Ritter <mwritter () gmail com>
> Date: July 3, 2017 at 3:51:54 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net, ip <ip () listbox com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re I remember this The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPhone in 1993
>
> Turns out they really almost did. One of the lead engineers at General Magic was Andy Rubin, leader of Android 
> development and a founder of Danger that continued the work of General Magic. I believe several GM alumni were on the 
> Android team (and some from Be which was led by Gasee, an ex-Apple executive.) I'm not sure where the heritage of the 
> iphone developers came from.
>  -Mike
>
> > On Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 6:33 AM Dave Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> > From: Charles Arthur <charles.arthur () gmail com>
> > Date: Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 8:52 AM
> > Subject: Re: [IP] I remember this The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPhone in 1993
> > To: <dave () farber net>, <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> >
> >
> > I visited General Magic in 1993 or 1994 to write an article for New Scientist. It really was born in a mansion 
> > rather than a garage.
> >
> > Here’s how the article I wrote (https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14219217-300-black-hat-white-rabbit/) begins:
> > ++
> > Imagine being lost on a mountain. You know there’s a path to the road,
> > but all you can see are hills, lakes and woods, and the map you brought
> > along is little more than a sketch. This is the moment that you need the
> > device so beloved of 1950s science fiction – a communicator. A small device
> > that can display detailed maps of the area, send messages to the emergency
> > services and, if you’ve got the advanced model, beam you back home. 
> >
> > Well, there’s a small group of scientists working in a Californian development
> > laboratory who’d like to help you out.
> >
> > ++
> >
> > So yes, pretty close to the iPhone.
> >
> > best
> > Charles
> >
> > On Twitter: http://twitter.com/charlesarthur
> > The Overspill:
> > http://theoverspill.wordpress.com/
> > More:
> > http://www.charlesarthur.com/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > On 27 Jun 2017, at 13:31, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Begin forwarded message:
> > >
> > > > From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> > > > Date: June 27, 2017 at 7:41:21 AM EDT
> > > > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > > > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPh =?utf-8?Q?one_=E2=80=A6_in_1993_=
> > > > Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
> > > >
> > > > The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPhone … in 1993
> > > > By Sean Braswell
> > > > Jun 27 2017
> > > > <http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-magical-apple-spin-off-that-almost-invented-the-iphone-in-1993/40708>
> > > >
> > > > Can you guess which company penned this mission statement in 1990?
> > > >
> > > > We have a dream of improving the lives of many millions of people by means of small, intimate life support systems 
> > > > that people carry with them everywhere. These systems will help people to organize their lives, to communicate 
> > > > with other people, and to access information of all kinds….
> > > >
> > > > Apple is a good guess, but the above was actually the dream of General Magic, an Apple Inc. spin-off that aimed to 
> > > > create a revolutionary hand-held computer. Named after Arthur C. Clarke’s famous maxim that “the best new 
> > > > technology is indistinguishable from magic,” it was Silicon Valley’s hottest startup, at least for a spell. But 
> > > > even magic and partnerships with Apple, Sony, Motorola and other big players failed to conjure a market for its 
> > > > innovative but unsettled technology.
> > > >
> > > > General Magic was the brainchild of Apple’s Marc Porat, once labeled a “wizard with a business plan.” Months 
> > > > before the U.S. Olympic Basketball program started assembling its “dream team” in 1991, Porat began assembling his 
> > > > own all-star squad of coding legends and design and hardware gurus from within Apple’s ranks. Leading the talented 
> > > > crew of tech wizards were co-founders Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld — two of Macintosh’s key designers — as 
> > > > well as artist Susan Kare (designer of the trash can and other Mac icons). 
> > > >
> > > > General Magic’s vision was more an illusion than a reality. 
> > > >
> > > > Technology startups are often born in garages, but as the Los Angeles Timesobserved, “General Magic was born in a 
> > > > mansion.” Apple Chairman John Sculley, also on General Magic’s board, helped Porat build his dream team, and 
> > > > Apple, likely trying to hedge its bets with its own hand-held project, Newton, came aboard early with $10 million 
> > > > in seed money. The secret startup initially flew under the radar, but as it began drawing more big-name investors 
> > > > and partners, including AT&T, Sanyo and Sony, word got out.
> > > >
> > > > Almost 17 years before the iPhone, General Magic’s aim was nothing less than a pocket-size communications device 
> > > > that could send messages, perform computing and make calls. The company called a dramatic press conference in 
> > > > February 1993 to announce two key components of that device: Magic Cap (a user-friendly operating system) and 
> > > > Telescript (a telecommunications language to allow devices to communicate across different networks). Industry 
> > > > observers raved that the company was creating “the digital version of English” to go with its hand-held personal 
> > > > assistant of the future. General Magic raised almost $90 million, and another $82 million at its 1995 initial 
> > > > public offering. Silicon Valley’s brightest angled to work at its Mountain View headquarters, equipped with 
> > > > free-roaming rabbits and conference rooms named after famous illusionists like Houdini.
> > > >
> > > > [snip]
> > > >
> > > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>
> >
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