General Magic Film Screening + Panel

in collaboration with MIT Sloan Design ClubApr 14, 2026

Still from General Magic. Center in red is Tony Fadell—iPod inventor, Nest Founder, and investor. To Fadell's right, over his shoulder is Megan Smith—engineer and former Chief Technology Officer of the United States.

About

Join us for a screening of General Magic followed by a live panel with tech legends.

General Magic is the story of the original creators of the smartphone, who after a great failure, changed the lives of billions—featuring Tony Fadell, MIT MAD’s inaugural Designer in Residence.

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 '86, SM '88 (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.

“This was the beginning of the most important company in the history of Silicon Valley that no one ever heard of,” former Apple CEO John Sculley says in the film.

REGISTER

PANELISTS

The screening will be immediately followed by a live panel featuring:

  • Tony Fadell

    Engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor

    Anthony “Tony” Fadell is an active investor and entrepreneur with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing products that profoundly improve people’s lives. He founded Nest Labs, Inc. in 2010 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2016. Known as the “father of the iPod,” he joined Apple Computer Inc. in 2001 and, as the SVP of Apple’s iPod division, led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone.

    Fadell has filed more than 300 patents for his work and was named one of Time's “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2014. In May 2016, Time named the Nest Learning Thermostat, the iPod and the iPhone three of the “50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time.” Fadell graduated with a BS degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1991.

  • Megan Smith

    Former U.S. CTO, Entrepreneur, CEO shift7

    Megan Smith is an entrepreneur, engineer, and tech leader working collaboratively on systemic social, environmental, and economic challenges as CEO & founder of shift7, board member/advisor MIT, Vital Voices, LA28 Olympics, Thinkof-Us, Algorithmic Justice League, Earth Conservation Corp, PlanetRead, IndigiGenious, CfR & NAE member. Served as Third United States Chief Technology Officer (U.S.CTO) and Assistant to the President (2014-2017) under President Obama (TechHire, CS for All, Opportunity Project, White House AI Town Halls, Image of STEM, Tech Policy Task Force, civic tech expansions). Co-founder of the Malala Fund, UN Solutions Summit, Women Techmakers, Solve for X. Google VP (11-yrs), PlanetOut CEO, General Magic (early smartphone engineer), Apple Japan, MIT Mechanical Engineering B.S., M.S., completed masters thesis on haptics at the MIT Media Lab, co-founder MIT solar car team (cross Australia WSC’87). LinkedIn

  • David Hendler Sloo

    Verbal Wrangler at General Magic, Entrepreneur, Build Collective

    Sloo helps build products that people understand and love. Since General Magic, he has worked with incredible teams at WebTV, Microsoft, Nest, 3D Hubs, Google, Ledger, and a bouquet of startups. He lives in Paris.

  • Sarah Kerruish

    General Magic Filmmaker

    Sarah Kerruish is a senior executive, board member, and film director with over a decade of experience leveraging artificial intelligence to improve global healthcare outcomes, particularly in early cancer detection and clinical trial access. Sarah has also written and directed several award-winning documentaries, including General Magic, which premiered at Tribeca and topped iTunes in 2020.

ACCESSIBILITY

Our events are enriched by your presence and we are committed to making them accessible to everyone.

Please email us at [email protected] to request accommodations.