Sculley also joined the Board at General Magic too ... and them missing out on the web/internet, in hindsight, was the death nail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Magic

Sometimes the smart think is to encourage folks to do their thing, and if it's successful buy it back in-house.

That has never really worked in the long run for anyone who’s tried it. (Counterexamples welcome; I can’t think of any.)

I don’t disagree with that assessment of Sculley but I’m not sure if that would have helped anyone. What the movie makes clear is that General Magic very badly needed adult supervision (all these “geniuses”! doing absolutely nothing of value! together!), and I’m not sure Apple of that era would have been capable of providing it in a productive way.

What the film makes clear (to me at least) was that General Magic desperately needed a product person.

They had the right tech, maybe a hair too early, but manageable, and the smart folks to build on it & iterate.

What they were missing was anyone who could take the freedom of wireless and marry it to the constraints of mid-90’s hardware & networks.