Who's Newton? SynPet VHS Promo, 1989

[dragonheadthing]

5:16 - 5:24: Wake up! Time to worship your robot overlords!

This video keeps popping into my head, and I keep discovering Newton's hidden purpose.

[garry12gg]

If anyone has one of these in working order, can you upload a video of it in action?

[ArcadeGames]

Dam that thing is huge! I thought it was going to run over the baby. Battery life is only 4 mins...

[Clay3613]

16 BIT!!!

[jeremiahjacobs]

So much I love about this. How the actors say "nooten" and the voiceover guy says "newten". Totally awesome how the 'secretary' is writing down recorded voicemail on a legal pad.

[codexbiohazard]

 It's like R2D2 had baby with a Dalek!

[samblye1]

6:23-7:16 Who else thought this seemed an awful lot like it was a corny TV show intro without intro credits?

[SoopSoopa]

I don't want newton near my children

[mikel1982]

zoom in on face... "Who's Newton???"... cue dorky confused face.

[romegaurd]

My watch has a bigger hardrive than this R2D2 rip off

[eirinikos]

20 megabyte hard drive. 720k floppy drive. LOL.

[YukiTheLaughingMan]

@eirinikos That was cutting edge in those days.

[MrFunsocks]

# He's watching you!!!

[brinkness]

Newton is terrifying!

[BigFatLoserDude]

I have a question. Computer hardware and processing power and software has progressed so much since the 80's. for example 12 gig usb drives 1 terabyte harddrives. Cell phones that have countless more processing power now then PC's of the 80's. (the I-phone for example) (pocket PC's) (wifi, bluetooth,) etc etc.

But what about personal robots? why have they not progressed? Where are they?

[ablestmage]

@BigFatLoserDude - Just as speculation, I suspect that the higher degrees of information retrieval without the use of personal robots has progressed so much that personal robots are no longer even a dream on the horizon. You can simply and inexpensively use the Internet to do most everything Newton could have done for you =/

[BigFatLoserDude]

@ablestmage That's a really good point.

[mkeysou812]

@ablestmage definitely agree with that, computing is so ubiquitous these days, and appliances are intelligent enough that you don't need the old concept of a servant going round doing stuff for you

[hotlinkcinema]

@ablestmage You could even describe a personal computer as a personal robot. Just a passive one, which we append our own bodies with.

[Scintillaterich]

@ablestmage but the internet doesn't wake me up when a moth flies into the house.

[nooloo3000]

@BigFatLoserDude the have supply carying robots in the hospitals now they dont shut up either they say the

[Sactreats]

@BigFatLoserDude I have a question. Who's Newton?

[salaminow]

That song is absolutely amazing. :D

[jokidder]

What did it sell for?

My guess: $11,999

[jokidder]

@jokidder Just answered my own question on watch?v=JhtUT59WOMQ

basic model was "about $8K" and the advanced model is "more than 10 grand"

[ablestmage]

@jokidder - yep, was just about to reply with that video, I'm the uploader for that one also ~_^

[bytebinrobotlab]

So whatever happened to the bot Did he ever get it manufactured? The problem then (just like these days) is that it cost so much to make a bot that most consumers can't afford it and those that can are a bit perplexed on what to do with it. On my channel I have quite a few bots in my videos, including the i-Que Personal Robot, WowWee RS Media, and others. Newton seemed like he was way ahead of his time. Does your uncle still make bots?

[ablestmage]

@bytebinrobotlab - I'm not sure how long the business stayed afloat, but I think he sold it off within a 5-ish years, and hasn't made anything bot-related since then, to my knowledge. He's still working in wireless telecom to some degree (which Newton used) but nothing in the realm of bots =/

[Ditherliss]

Who's Newton? *blank zombie stare*

[philipnova798]

ablestmage, would it be okay if I uploaded this onto a site called Retro Junk? I sure everyone there would like to see it.

[ablestmage]

I'm not sure if uploaded is the word you're looking for =) Share away ^_^

[philipnova798]

Thanks.

[dpmfloyd]

i love how remote controlled toys fooled people in the 80s.

my roomba beats this thing when its unplugged.

[ablestmage]

not remote controlled =P

[dpmfloyd]

sure.

[nooloo3000]

@ablestmage please tell me im curious what all could this robot do

[Freemann1974]

Hey Newton, are you programmed for pleasure??

[Lordodragonss]

Newton looks like Pleo, Natztabag(or watherever the rabitrobot is called), Walle and Johny Five together, lol

[6G3rm4N9]

Bitch who's Newton!!!!!!!!! D:<

[TheBoogeyman000]

wow do yu still have it

[ablestmage]

I still have the VHS tape I ripped it from, yes. I never had a Newton myself. My uncle (the inventor) still has 3 of them in his garage.

[6364gg2]

May i please have one?

[skateman37]

at 0:36 theres a lion in that chick's yard

[ablestmage]

also known as a dog, in some countries.

[skateman37]

it must be one of them new half lion half dog things

[Rob333]

Hah, 16bit with a 20mb, harddrive they must of crammed alot on there.

[shivercanada]

Who's Newton??

He's the Robot that's going to Strangle you in your sleep and make you die tonight!

[YukiTheLaughingMan]

And shout: Crush! Kill! Destroy! While he's doing it.

[shivercanada]

Never even HEARD of this thing before.

That 1200 BAUD Modem is WICKED!!

And it has a FLOPPY DISK DRIVE??? HOW CONVENIENT!

When they interface with Bio organisms , then the DALEKS will be born! Happy Days to come.

[6364gg2]

My BS2 can do 400 BAUD. lol!

[ThatRunescaper]

lol the 80's

[garry12gg]

x10?

[Kevo216666]

How'd he get to the bedroom! Newton sucks ass - I want my money back.

[ablestmage]

wheels?

[Kevo216666]

Erm. Doesn't really help with how it gets up stairs. He doesn't exude off-road qualities.  I can only assume you have to live in a bungalow to experience Newton's full potential.

[ablestmage]

where do you get that the bedroom is upstairs?

[Kevo216666]

Well, they are usually aren't they? I kind of qualified myself my mentioning the bungalow. Is this conversation going anywhere?

[ablestmage]

most people don't have multiple floor homes.

[missingyes]

Oh my GOD! It's Newton!

Is there any way you can get a hold of a scanned copy of any of Newton's documentation? Manuals, brochures, or anything.

It just so happens my technology teacher has one of these still kicking around, although the batteries have given up their ghost.

We want to bring it back to life, and it'd be awesome to try and program some software for it.

[Carthandagor]

Where can I get one? I'm serious. I want one.

[ablestmage]

eBay is your best bet, I'm sure.

[afghanosaurus]

OMG - the music sucks sooooooo bad.  "He's a dream come true. Bringing the future home to you, he's watching you!"?! LMFAO!!!

[rbairos1]

Great commercial for 1989, but I doubt a mobile IBM Xt would provide meaningful companionship for an elderly lady!

[rm50310]

Wow! this thing also has it own song at the end of the video

[dragonheadthing]

Wow, so much can be done with the lines from this commercial. "'He expects excellence, but will praise effort and accomplishment'... as long as that accomplishment is toward the enslavement of man by robots by the year 2015." They left that part out of the commercial.

[misterBasto]

OMG 750K FLOPPY DISK DRIVE!

[dragonheadthing]

"Who's Newton?... Oh, he's some guy we found on the street and have trapped in our house as he can't go down stairs."

That's for posting this video.  It's neat.

[6364gg2]

lol!

[BigFatLoserDude]

@dragonheadthing Hahaha! thats the best comment ever! LOL

[simmy403]

Did anyone else laugh when he said 'fall off elevated surfaces'?

[6364gg2]

1:35 he farted.

[ZorlaxPwnage]

Put a 50 caliber on it and I might get one.

[ninesevenseven]

I'd much rather awake to a creepy robot voice, than just take 5 seconds to set an alarm clock. Hilarious!

[911suckers]

i bet he cant go up the stairs

[neckwish]

Indeed. Newton and Daleks are routinely outsmarted by steps.

[FolkeFolkmord]

My favorite part was the call to the fire station. I like to think that those two fire guys were the only ones working there.

"We have a structure fire at 3562 Maple Street. Let's go. It's your turn to peddle the bike this time."

[neckwish]

Nah, just the only ones in that particular room. Although, they don't really use a telephone like that these days. ^_^

[Widmerpool99]

A 20Mb hard disk! Such luxury!

[Blahcetera]

Behold, the wonders of the future!

[zozobra981]

Johnny 5 > Newton

[6364gg2]

No. Walle istad of newton.

[Estoye]

I hear his CPU is a neuroprocessor, a learning computer.

[6364gg2]

Really?

[Wintericecrystal]

What ever happened to Synpet?

[changeyourcourse]

newton saw Robo Cop 2 and killed many people so they discontinued him.

It was on CNN, I though everybody saw that!

[NeoOne110]

yeah that docking station is actually where he reloads his miniguns.lol

[birdoprey5]

If NASA had the robot 'Jinx' who starred in the Space Camp movie in 1986, no reason a civilian version in Newton couldn't have been around in 1988... Probably held back by the govenment and big oil since it didn't need fuel or batteries.

[Sigma911011]

Wow! Seriously, this is very impressive! Considering the hardware limitations at the time I am impressed it can do anything, let alone have voice recognition, navigation and speech! If your uncle used today's hardware, wow I don't know what he could do, but I am sure it would be great! Perhaps a robot helper in every house?

[gucker07]

This "robot" (if you can call it that) is completely useless. It obviously can't do anything useful. It has no "arms" (or any other form of manipulator). Given the state of machine vision in the 80s it would also not have been able to navigate autonomously. Voice recognition was also not advanced enough at the time. This ad is pure bullshit, I hate Newton!

[ablestmage]

All you have is guesses. It did and does navigate autonomously. The voice recog is clearly demonstrated; your disbelief is purely speculation.

[gucker07]

You're so naive. Not everything they tell you on television is true, you know. This is an ad for the gullible masses who have no clue. There is no way one could have built a robot like Newton (with the advertised capabilities) with 80s technology. The Newton you see here is basically a computer in a wheelchair.

[ablestmage]

Again, uninformed speculation. They wouldn't have advertised non-existent features. Had you read the description, you might have guessed (of which you seem capable) that I have direct experience with them and the company owner. The ad does not advertise features of which it is not capable. You're simply incapable of estimating how it could have been done.

[gucker07]

You're the one who is uninformed. Read up on the state of machine vision in the 80s. And how was Newton supposed to do anything useful without some sort of manipulator?

We're still not able to build a truly useful household robot (although we're getting there), 20 years later.

[ablestmage]

It appears you're defining "useful" strictly my the presence of a physical manipulator. It may simply not be useful to you. However, the marketing for Newtons never included a physical manipulator. The video itself is evidence of 1980s machine vision.

[u2dg2kd1v2d]

fuck man, i want one, it looks bad ass

[iiiijjjj]

quite decent of Newton to not frighten that baby

[ablestmage]

yes, the "you are adopted" feature seems to have been disabled ^_^

[Holkinblitz]

Epic!

[tubenewbie22]

This is awesome! I assume it didn't take off because of the price. If exactly this was promoted today, with modern hardware and a slightly better voice, at a good price, I could see a lot of people getting them. Man, the red and black Newtons looked evil.

[ablestmage]

Yeah, Newton was the first thing I thought of when the Roombas came out.

[intigfx]

meeeeet Newton

when future and fun go togeeeether

meeeeet Newton

he'll be your friend foreeeever, wheneeeever!

[BoulderNumber3]

i want one!

[captionloken]

cool!