Newton by SynPet, VHS Promo [original release post] 1989
May 5, 2008 by ablestmage
This is the original release post (at ablestmage.com) for the 1989 VHS Promo reel regarding the Newton personal household robot. My uncle was owner/CEO/etc of SynPet at the time (also inventer/creator of the Bottomline technology, the fisherman’s depth detector. I’ve got a VHS Promo reel of that also, but it seems to be more like a video manual so much than trying to sell the product.
Note: I’ve noticed a lot of other blogs are syndicating my material by just pasting the entire post into their own and not linking back. Please keep an eye out for these imposters! ^_^
Edit: I’ve uploaded the HQ version (39mb, mwv) to Rapidshare, here.
Edit @ July 19, 2008
A number of sites have posted the video as an entry and a few have gathered a few rather interesting comments (notably paleofuture).. Thanks guys!
PaleoFuture.com entry (with funny comments)
Spike.com entry
Wired.com Gadgets (I got over 200 clicks from them according to YT statistics, but when searching for it, there seems to be no evidence of the post)
[...] 6, 2008 Ablestmage.com tutvustab meile midagi fantastilist - majapidamisrobotit Newton. See ülipraktiline ja [...]
That’s a real lost gem from the robot era, do you have any other information about the Newton?
Details online are sparse to non-existent. I’d love to know if any exist today.
Great post!
I’ll ask my uncle if he has any old instruction manuals or paper fact-sheet related materials, and scan those in if I get some. Other than the subtitles from the video, I don’t have much else, quite honestly. I did a few Newton searches some time ago and found relatively nothing — just parts for sale at random “old robot parts” sites, and a reference to Newton from the guy who claims to have done the firmware. I’m not wiki-savvy yet.. I wonder if some interested soul would be kind enough to assist in that endeavor?
Your uncle wasn’t called Newton by any chance?
That’d be amazing
Heh, no, his name is mentioned in the KDFX video ^_^
He said he has some original print brochures and possibly a manual or two. We’ll be visiting him at the end of May so I may be able to get a few snaps of Newton’s innards ^_^
Your clips are great and it is good to see them on line and that other hobbyist are interested. I have some pictures on The Old Robots Web Site. I would like to talk to you and your unkle and trade information.
I’d seen your site before, when checking as to whether Newton had already maintained a presence on the web to some degree — and I appreciate the recognition ^_^
Here is a corrected link to Ron’s site, and one specifically to Newton’s page. There’s also a link to a little buddy I used to own named Chatbot that I sold some years ago, regrettably.
[...] promotional video, and since then, I’ve gotten over 16,000 views. I’ve update the original post with a few sites that have opted to feature the video in a post from their site. Thanks [...]
I have a Newton Synpet and some of the other personal robots of the 1980’s.
My Newton is painted metalic blue, and it has an experimental set of mechanics to lift the head as well as turn it (no software to control the lift).
I bought it from a fellow named Sean who had the Robot World store in Rochester New York.
Newton is functional with manuals and brochures. I have used him for robot demonstrations at schools.
I would love to be able to contact your uncle by Email or phone. I hope to find somwone that has the source code that implements the Newton knowledge database. My version may not be the last version, because the conditional statements are nonfunctional.