Magic Cap
Encyclopedia
Magic Cap was an object-oriented
operating system
for PDA
s developed by General Magic
. Tony Fadell
was in charge of the platform. Darin Adler
was an architect.
Magic Cap incorporated a "room metaphor", where the user navigated from room to room to perform various tasks (E.G. a home office to perform word processing
, or a file room to clean up the system files). The interface resembled that of Microsoft Bob
, though Magic Cap lacked an office assistant
.
Several electronic companies came to market with Magic Cap devices, the most notable of which being the Sony
Magic Link
released in 1994 and the Motorola Envoy
, also released in 1994. None of these devices were commercial successes.
" technology named Telescript. Conceptually, the agents would carry work orders, travel to a "Place" outside of the handheld device, complete their work, and then return to the device with the results. When the Magic Cap devices were delivered, the only Place for agents to travel was the PersonaLink service provided by AT&T
. The agents had little access to functionality, since each agent had to be strictly authorized and its scope of inquiry was limited to the software modules installed on the PersonaLink servers. The payload carried by these agents was also hampered by the slow baud rate of the modems in the devices of 2400 bit/s.
The authentication/authorization system of the mobile agents in Telescript created a high coupling between the device and the target Place. As a result, deployment of agent-based technology was incredibly difficult, and never reached fruition before the PersonaLink service was shut down.
Object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s developed by General Magic
General Magic
General Magic was a company co-founded by Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld and Marc Porat that developed a new kind of handheld communications device they called a "personal intelligent communicator", which was a PDA precursor that stressed communications....
. Tony Fadell
Tony Fadell
Anthony M. Fadell is a Lebanese American computer science engineer. He was known for being the Senior Vice President of the iPod Division at Apple Inc., having succeeded Jon Rubinstein in 2006. On November 4, 2008, Apple announced that Fadell would be stepping down as Senior Vice President but...
was in charge of the platform. Darin Adler
Darin Adler
Darin Adler was the technical lead for Apple Computer's System 7 operating system release. During 1985–1987 he worked for ICOM Simulations as primary developer of the MacVenture series of games, including Shadowgate. Adler went on to work at General Magic and Eazel., he is the engineering manager...
was an architect.
Magic Cap incorporated a "room metaphor", where the user navigated from room to room to perform various tasks (E.G. a home office to perform word processing
Word processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
, or a file room to clean up the system files). The interface resembled that of Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Bob was a Microsoft software product, released in March 1995, which provided a new, nontechnical interface to desktop computing operations. It was one of Microsoft's more visible product failures...
, though Magic Cap lacked an office assistant
Office Assistant
The Office Assistant was a Microsoft Office feature to assist users by way of an interactive animated character, which interfaced with the Office help content. It used technology initially from Microsoft Bob and later Microsoft Agent, offering advice based on Bayesian algorithms...
.
Several electronic companies came to market with Magic Cap devices, the most notable of which being the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
Magic Link
Magic Link
The Magic Link was a personal communicator and PDA marketed by Sony from 1994, based on the General Magic's Magic Cap operating system. The "Link" part of the name refers to the device's ability to send and receive data over a modem....
released in 1994 and the Motorola Envoy
Motorola Envoy
The Motorola Envoy Personal Wireless Communicator was a personal digital assistant released by Motorola in summer 1994. It was built to run General Magic's Magic CAP operating system, and it combined wireless, telephone, and infrared modems in a single PDA package....
, also released in 1994. None of these devices were commercial successes.
Mobile agents
The Magic Cap operating system included a new "mobile agentMobile agent
In computer science, a mobile agent is a composition of computer software and data which is able to migrate from one computer to another autonomously and continue its execution on the destination computer.-Definition and overview:...
" technology named Telescript. Conceptually, the agents would carry work orders, travel to a "Place" outside of the handheld device, complete their work, and then return to the device with the results. When the Magic Cap devices were delivered, the only Place for agents to travel was the PersonaLink service provided by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. The agents had little access to functionality, since each agent had to be strictly authorized and its scope of inquiry was limited to the software modules installed on the PersonaLink servers. The payload carried by these agents was also hampered by the slow baud rate of the modems in the devices of 2400 bit/s.
The authentication/authorization system of the mobile agents in Telescript created a high coupling between the device and the target Place. As a result, deployment of agent-based technology was incredibly difficult, and never reached fruition before the PersonaLink service was shut down.
External links
- Archive section and "time capsule" dedicated to Magic Cap — Pen Computing Magazine
- "Making Magic" — a developer’s introduction to General Magic and Magic Cap by Richard Clark, Scott KnasterScott KnasterScott Knaster is an American technical writer who has written many books, mostly dealing with Macintosh programming and using the Macintosh. He has worked for such companies as Apple Inc., General Magic, Microsoft, Danger Inc., and Google....
, and the staff of General Magic (from Mactech 11:5) - Magic Cap Resources — a combination blog and gallery with links to Magic Cap software, documentation and other information. Also includes a photo gallery of Magic Cap devices.