Experience immersive workshops on product development, team building and resilience in the approach to failure, told through the General Magic story.
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General Magic is available to watch on VOD platforms worldwide.
Learn MoreLearn MoreHost a private screening of General Magic for your organization paired with live panels and team-building workshops.
Learn MoreGet a custom quoteGeneral Magic is the story of the original creators of the smartphone, who after a great failure, changed the lives of billions.
In 1990, at a secretive Silicon Valley start-up, a small and passionate group of innovators and engineers formed to build a magical device that would enable anyone to connect everyone to everywhere and everything – a personal computer in your pocket.
General Magic, though relatively unknown, is considered by many to be one of the most influential innovation startups in the history of technology. This pioneering team—featuring visionaries like Tony Fadell (co-creator of the iPod and iPhone, founder of Nest, author of Build), Megan Smith (former White House CTO, founder of shift7), Marc Porat (original visionary of the smartphone), Andy Hertzfeld (software engineer, original Macintosh team), and Joanna Hoffman (marketing, original Macintosh team)—created the first smartphone and laid the foundation for many of the 21st century's most transformative communication and digital technologies.
While the business of General Magic ultimately did not succeed, the groundbreaking technologies developed by this trailblazing startup and the subsequent ventures led by its team have profoundly impacted the lives of billions.
Discover the General Magic story.
Find streaming and rental options available in your region on JustWatch
or rent it on Prime Video, iTunes, Vimeo, Google Play, Roku Channel, or YouTube.
Contact us about private screenings for your organization.
Please contact us for more information about how to host a private screening, panel or team building event. Former General Magic employees are able to speak on request.
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“A rippling standing ovation followed the film. We Estonians are typically straight faced as people, resistant to emotion or expression in public, but the film resonated something deep within our audience.
“My hope and dream is that General Magic elevates the purpose of each Town employee.”

The compelling story of General Magic shows the powerful value that lies in failure, perseverance and teamwork amongst other empowering themes. Teams and groups will find inspiration in this legendary piece of history.
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As reported in community discussions 1.2.1 and specialized repositories 1.2.2 , ESXi 9.x does not accept traditional, static, text-based license keys for activation.
: Effective April 10, 2025, licensing for these bundles requires a minimum of 72 CPU cores per product purchase, regardless of whether your hardware actually has that many. This has caused costs to jump by 350-450% for small businesses. GitHub Keys: The Reality
Given the licensing changes and the high cost, many organisations and individuals are now moving away from VMware altogether. Several excellent open‑source alternatives have become mature enough for production use.
If you need VMware ESXi 9, you do not have to resort to risky or illegal methods. Several legitimate options exist.
– If your environment is already Windows‑centric, Hyper‑V is included with Windows Server licences and offers a smooth migration path.
However, be aware that:
– An open‑source, KVM‑based Type‑1 hypervisor with a built‑in web management interface. It supports live migration, high‑availability clustering, and integrated backup. Proxmox is completely free (with paid enterprise repository subscriptions optional) and is widely considered the most straightforward VMware replacement.
Under Broadcom, VMware licensing has shifted significantly towards subscription-based models. As of early 2026, the primary ways to license ESXi 9 include:
Purchase options
As reported in community discussions 1.2.1 and specialized repositories 1.2.2 , ESXi 9.x does not accept traditional, static, text-based license keys for activation.
: Effective April 10, 2025, licensing for these bundles requires a minimum of 72 CPU cores per product purchase, regardless of whether your hardware actually has that many. This has caused costs to jump by 350-450% for small businesses. GitHub Keys: The Reality vmware esxi 9 license key github work
Given the licensing changes and the high cost, many organisations and individuals are now moving away from VMware altogether. Several excellent open‑source alternatives have become mature enough for production use.
If you need VMware ESXi 9, you do not have to resort to risky or illegal methods. Several legitimate options exist. – An open‑source, KVM‑based Type‑1 hypervisor with a
– If your environment is already Windows‑centric, Hyper‑V is included with Windows Server licences and offers a smooth migration path.
However, be aware that:
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