General Magic

Seriously, who signed off on the audio mix for this? I couldn't watch for more than 10 minutes due to the obnoxiously loud music. Half of the time I could not understand what was being said. Even when I could understand, the loud music was just too much to take and made me want to turn it off. I can only guess that something went wrong when this was handed off for broadcast, because I find it hard to believe it went out the door like this.

Was interested in subject matter, but background music was almost always playing over the voices.

First off, I watched this on Showtime and the sound was perfect.

If you care about Silicon Valley history or are just an Apple fan, this is a must see.

An excellent film that tells the rare story of the most consequential company to fail... but which was not really a failure, because the people and ideas, fueled technologies and devices that changed the world.

Tech/SV tends to glorify successes. It was nice to watch the deconstruction of how General Magic was created and then failed.

Especially interesting were all the interviews with Tony Fadell (founder of NEST), Marc Porat (CEO of General Magic) and their perspective on how the company imploded.

Also, how did they get a hold off all that old footage??

This is a very interesting documentary about the development of technology as we know it today and how failure can turn into success. I learned a lot about the development of the smartphone.

It tells the story of a technology company called General Magic and their struggle to make a smartphone, all while trying to keep it a secret from other companies that could steal their ideas.

It is easy to understand. I like how they illustrate things. For example, they use ocean waves to describe the coming and going of companies. The story is told by former General Magic employees, who know best about what happened since they were a part of it.

They frequently cut to show beautiful landscapes throughout the film. My favorite one is a beach, but they also show city skylines, forests and other interesting places. The music is very 80s and helps establish the time period. The message of the film is that sometimes, failure for one person can help another person to success.

It has some very mild profanity and there is mention of somebody being naked, but it is never shown. I give this 4 out of 5 stars and recommend if for ages 12-18 as well as adults.

Reviewed by Kayenta C., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org.