Established as a sub-branch of Apple, General Magic has not only opened a great door of income for both the people behind the project and the investor companies, but also changed the world, even though it failed despite the large investments it received. Let’s tell the story of this company.
When do you think the idea of a smartphone first appeared? the 2010s? 2000s? With the discovery that you can take pictures and listen to music with mobile phones? Actually the first smartphone idea, although not by the same name to the last days of the 1980s going up.
At that time, a company that started as an Apple initiative had developed the concept of smart phone even before the mobile phones, as we call it, with the portable device with computer features. The brand behind this magical idea General Magic Although he failed in terms of sales, he took the first step to change the world.
A failure story as important as Apple’s success:
Although the story of Apple is often told as a success story, it was an adventure that especially those who want to be an entrepreneur should know at least as well as that story. General Magic’s adventure. Moreover, this exciting journey had also begun at Apple.
The story was in 1989 at Apple Computer had begun. He started working on the original project at that time. Marc PoratJohn Sculley, who was the CEO of the company at the time, had allowed General Magic to be a separate venture as a result of Porat’s persuasion efforts. Andy Hertzfeld and Bill Atkinson joined Porat in May 1990 and the firm started its operations in California.
Then Apple’s System 7 Many people joined the team, including the team. The team set out with a very big vision. A note from Porat to Sculley eloquently explained this vision: “A tiny computer, a phone, a personal object… It must be beautiful. A beautiful piece should give the personal satisfaction of jewellery. It will have visible value even when not used… Once used, you will never be able to live without it.”
In 1992, General Magic attracted attention for the first time.
at first General Magic’s The activities were carried on in great secrecy. In 1992, with the world’s largest electronics companies starting to invest, this small company with big ideals started to attract everyone’s attention. Sony, Motorola, Matsushita, Philips and AT&T companies such as General Magic joined the investors.
General Magic, which was called “the most closely watched initiative” at the time, was not just developing a new device. Plans to provide a common messaging infrastructure independent of devices telescript There was also software. This software would also act as an operating system.
On the other hand, although the company had remarkable ideas, there was no product yet. It was necessary to wait until 1994 to see the first devices with General Magic’s logo with a rabbit coming out of the hat. The first products released under the General Magic Alliance (GMA) were two personal digital assistants. Later they gave them Motorola Envoy and Sony MagicLink joined. AT&T, on the other hand, made these devices compatible with PersonaLink, a closed internet-like network to which devices can be connected.
During this period, when the magic rabbit was thought to roar like a giant tiger, the company was listed on NASDAQ. Fully 96 million dollars were collected during the bid collection process, and the total incoming investment is 200 million dollars passed. In a short time, the share value of the brand doubled.
Another great idea: Portico
In the series Knight Raider, which was also published under the name of Black Lightning in our country for a while. David Hasselhoff, the agent was able to communicate with Kitt by talking. At that time, this idea attracted the attention of almost everyone. futuristic was seen as.
General Magic, on the other hand, thought the idea was quite viable. For this purpose, a system that reads e-mails, sends e-mails, can search among the numbers in the directory, and organizes a calendar. voice interface they designed. This technology, which would later be transferred to another company, General Motors, whose abbreviation was GM, allowed the company to survive even though it could not sell as much product as it wanted at that time.
Even if it will sink, sinking in the big sea…
In 1999, the company’s shares suffered a huge drop. There were various reasons behind this decline. Firstly, from the founding team There weren’t many people left. Second, the firm was losing too much money, layoffs, and had trouble meeting deadlines. The team that developed Portico had also begun to leave the company in the early 2000s.
On September 18, 2002, the company announced that it had ceased its operations. In 2004, the company’s assets were sold. Most of the company’s licenses, which we know from Microsoft Paul Allen he bought. OnStar, the final version of the Portico, was transferred to EDS on behalf of General Motors.
Still, General Magic left a big mark behind.
To quickly list some of the technologies that emerged from the work of General Magic, these include software modems that eliminate the need for modem chips, small touch screens, touchscreen control ASICson-chip system integration, rich multimedia email, network gamesNetflix and Disney+ like broadcast systems, the first versions of e-commerce took place.
Ex-employees of General Magic, who have a partial finger under many of the technologies we use today, are also great success in their career achieved.
Developed the operating system called Magic Cap Andy Rubinwrites Android in 2003 and sells it to Google two years later. In charge of the designer Tony Fadellmoves to Apple in 2006. As soon as it passed, he signed the iPod design and became the spiritual father of many devices. He founded Nest Labs, which he later sold to Google for $3.2 million. Andy Hertzfield joins Google; It prepares the interfaces of services such as Picasa, Google+, Gmail. Bill Atkinson develops the Quick Draw program.
Pierre Omidyar Although not many of us have heard of his name, he also came out of the same team and founded eBay. Steve Perlman and Phil Goldman They also make WebTV, one of the first TV-based internet projects, and sell it to Microsoft. Kevin Lynch Adobe rises to vice president and makes the Flash plugin. He later becomes the head of Apple’s smartwatch unit.
Peter Niehbecomes the founder of Acer Computer’s flatbed division. Later, he co-founded the Lightspeed investment network, which is also known as the investor of Snapchat. Eric Ly He founded LinekIn in 2002 and served as Vice President of Technology until 2006.
John GlannandreaIn 2003, he was appointed as a search engine manager at Google. In 2017, he appears as the vice president of artificial intelligence at Apple. Megan Smith joins Google. He served as the Vice President of Business Development for 13 years. He later becomes Obama’s Chief Technology Officer.
So why did General Magic go bankrupt?
Obviously the team is good and resourceful, the product is the smartphone we already know, so it’s been tested and confirmed in real life just how popular it can be, then this is it. General Magic why did it fail? Of course, there are some reasons for this situation.
First of all, the world was not ready for the device yet. The first SMS was sent in 1992. In 1994, only 1 out of 100 people had a mobile phone. So wireless in the middle mobile internet packages or Wi-Fi they had no nets. The fact that the devices are expensive and that there is not much that people can do with this technology were the first reasons why General Magic failed despite all the excitement.
Too much in a short time Trying to do this was one of the reasons that contributed to the bankruptcy of the company. The fact that it tried to establish its own network and walk from there, without understanding the effect of the Internet, and shaping many features according to this network, made it seriously difficult for the company to maneuver later on.