Under 3,000 MagicLinks sold
Fewer than 3,000 Sony MagicLink devices were sold, mostly to family and friends of General Magic employees, making it one of Silicon Valley's biggest flops.
Snapshot · Planet Money
We almost had a smartphone in the 90s. Why did it fail?
Explore episode
Jun 26, 2026
Where this was said
The Dream Becomes a Problem: Years Pass, Nothing Ships
At 12:25 · chapter starts 10:20
Tony Fadell describes the slow dawning of dread as month after month passed without a shippable product. He trusted his more experienced colleagues — they'd done this before, surely they knew when something was ready. But twelve months slipped into eighteen, then thirty-two. Four years after starting, they finally had something to show the world. In fall 1994, General Magic's leaders held a splashy launch event for the Sony Magic Link — a mini tablet with a touchscreen, app selection, and an $800 price tag in 1990s dollars. [1] — Tony Fadell "Tony Fadell trusted that his experienced leaders knew when the product would ship. Then 12 months passed. Then 18. Then 32. The device that…" 10:08 It could send faxes, track checks, and play Solitaire. But it came with a 200-page manual. And it lacked the one thing it was supposed to be: a phone. Fewer than 3,000 units sold, mostly to friends and family of the magicians themselves.
4 years to ship, still no phone feature
What was supposed to ship in 12 to 18 months took General Magic over four years, and the final product still lacked a working phone — its most basic promised feature.
Product launched at $800 in 1994 dollars
The Sony Magic Link, powered by General Magic's technology, debuted in fall 1994 at a price of $800 in 1990s dollars.
David Epstein's Theory: Too Much Is the Problem
Journalist David Epstein spent years researching what makes creative people and organizations succeed. His counterintuitive finding: too much talent, too much time, and too many resources produce spectacular failures. General Magic is his best case study.
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