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Writer and consultant Richard Doherty has been a close observer of one of the highest-flying startups in recent memory, General Magic, whose peaks and valleys are not atypical of Silicon Valley startups. With the help of his long-time friend Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computer Inc., Doherty has reconstructed that history in diary form.
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1988
Wearing my hat of consulting engineer, I present some of my ideas on the future of systems design to a group of researchers in the Advanced Technology Group at Apple Computer. Among other concepts I throw out is the idea of a wearable personal communicator not unlike the badges worn in "Star Trek." Did they think I was nuts? Maybe not. I've heard rumors that something called Pocket Crystal, a handheld communicator of some kind, is under development there.
One person not at the meeting is Marc Porat.He's said to be one of Apple's true visionaries, a well-traveled guy who sometimes seizes other people's ideas, championing them as his own. Maybe just as well he wasn't there.
1989
There's a rumor that Apple has spun off Pocket Crystal as an independent group of a few key researchers. CEO John Sculley is said to have quietly taken a personal stake. So have Apple and an investor I can't pin down. Some say there are strong rivalries between this group and other Apple researchers working on a communicator idea of their own.
Summer 1991
Tony Fadell, one of the most promising engineers I've met in a long time, has asked for career advice. He's being approached by several companies from the Apple family that want to hire him:Kaleida, Taligent, Apple itself and Project Crystal, now being called General Magic Inc. He asked which I'd choose if I were in his shoes. That's easy. General Magic is by far the hottest startup either of us has seen in years.
Winter 1991
Steve Wozniak, the cofounder of Apple, has signed away several of his patents on infrared control technologies to General Magic, passing them along to Tony Fadell and others, including General Magic's co-founders and former Apple developers Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld. I feel like I'm witnessing the birth of something that could become even more significant than the Mac....