I remember this The Magical Apple Spin-Off That Almost Invented the iPh =?utf-8?Q?one_=E2=80=A6_in_1993_=

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

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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