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Comment by DonHopkins

6 years ago

There was some overlap, and both had lots of "Magic" hype, but there were some really great people working at General Magic, and not nearly as high a level of narcissistic bullshit and self aggrandization and utterly dishonest marketing as from Magic Leap.

I mean, come on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY

Completely agree. The GM people were competent without being arrogant. They failed only because cellular data networks were not good enough at the time.

  • Bill Atkinson is the humblest, sweetest, most astronomically talented guy -- practically the opposite of Rony Abovitz! I think they're on very different drugs.

    The Psychedelic Inspiration For Hypercard, by Bill Atkinson, as told to Leo Laporte.

    "In 1985 I swallowed a tiny fleck of gelatin containing a medium dose of LSD, and I spent most of the night sitting on a concrete park bench outside my home in Los Gatos, California." ...

    https://www.mondo2000.com/2018/06/18/the-inspiration-for-hyp...

    Full interview with lots more details about the development of HyperCard:

    https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/247?autostart=f...

    Bill Atkinson's guest lecture in Brad Meyer's CMU 05-640 Interaction Techniques class, Spring 2019, Feb 4, 2019:

    https://scs.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=...

    Including polaroids of early Lisa development.

    About PhotoCard:

    http://www.billatkinson.com/aboutPhotoCard.html

    PhotoCard by Bill Atkinson is a free app available from the iTunes App store, that allows you to create custom postcards using Bill's nature photos or your own personal photos, then send them by email or postal mail from your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

    Bill Atkinson, Mac software legend and world renowned nature photographer, has created an innovative application that redefines how people create and send postcards.

    With PhotoCard you can make dazzling, high resolution postcards on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, and send them on-the-spot, through email or the US Postal Service. The app is amazingly easy to use. To create a PhotoCard, select one of Bill's nature photos or one of your own personal photos. Then, flip the card over to type your message. For a fun touch, jazz up your PhotoCard with decorative stickers and stamps. If you're emailing your card, it can even include an audible greeting. When you've finished your creation, send it off to any email or postal address in the world!

    • Thanks for that. Bill's been a hero of mine since I did Mac development on a Lisa using photocopied binders of Inside Macintosh mailed to me by Guy Kawasaki. Those were the days.