Before that other Newton, there was Newton, the helpful, friendly housebot. Equipped with an "IBM PC XT equivalent system," a "16-bit real-time microcomputer," and a 20MB hard drive, Newton was kind of like a PC crammed into the body of a cheap R2-D2 knockoff. With baleful orange eyes peering out of a swiveling, saucer-shaped head, watching you.
"You’d be amazed at what he can do," the cheesy 1980s jingle promises. But what exactly he does is not clear from the video, apart from distracting kids from working on their homework, attempting to scare an obviously sedated baby and comforting an old lady who appears to have slipped into the late, pathetic stages of dementia and loneliness.
As the excellent Paleo-Future blog suggests, fast-forward to 6:20 in the video to experience the Newton theme song in all its glorious, big-haired awesomeness.
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