I own a Sony Magic Link and you are 100% correct. The UI is the worst sort of point-n-click adventure game memes. Not only do you have to guess what visual elements actually do something you need to figure out what functionality they represent. The spacial metaphor is insipid because it takes a lot of taps to get from one "room" to another.

None of this is helped by how slow the Magic Link is. Supposedly the DataRover 840 was much faster but I've never owned one to tell for sure.

The UI of the Newton MessagePad (I own several) is far from perfect but makes much more sense than MagicCap. It also requires fewer taps to reach different functions.

Every once in a while I'll pull out my Magic Link but the insanity of the UI just inspires me to put it back in a box.

The thing with General Magic is they were Mac team members without a lot of imagination. They thought the next GUI environment had to encompass the real world as the connected world. The problem statement is solid. Unfortunately they looked at the MAC’s desktop metaphor and decided the next logical step was to add legs to the metaphor and bridge the gap to the real world.

I have a Sony Magic Linknthat doesn’t boot.