Conference misery::feline_v1

182.0. "Almost as good?" by DR::BLINN () Sat Dec 07 1985 15:21

From ASKENET:  can the "Deluxe Cat" model be really "almost as good as a 
real cat?"  Real cat owners will no doubt question this, but consider a 
"cat" that doesn't spread litter all over the house, tear up the 
furniture, sit on your face in the middle of the night, etc.  Hmmm..

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 PISA::CLARK                    Ask the Easynet                3-DEC-1985 18:13 
 Note 555.0           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-          14 responses 
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Nolan Bushnell, creator of the Atari video game, has a new creation --
the Petster, a cute, furry robot house pet.  Three models are available:

	Dog - only works on a leash (ala VCR wired remote) - about $20

	Cat - responds to hand claps - about $35 - $40

	Deluxe Cat - responds to hand claps and leash controls, has
	    more functions than the standard cat - about $70 - $80

Late last week, when I didn't know all this, I knew where to buy them.
How that I've seen the Deluxe Cat in operation, I can't find a store that
has one in stock.

Please help Santa surprise the Clark family by pointing him to a store in
southern NH or greater Boston that has the Petster Deluxe in stock.

-- Ward

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 PISA::CLARK                    Ask the Easynet                3-DEC-1985 18:18 
 Note 555.1           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               1 of 14 
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I found two stores that (as of a few minutes ago) have the standard
Petster cat in stock:

	Service Merchandise - Manchester, NH
	Toys-R-Us - Manchester, NH

I also found three outlets that are currently out of stock:

	Child World - Nashua, NH
	Sears - Burlington, MA
	Sharper Image Catalog

-- Ward

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 VAXUUM::DYER                   Ask the Easynet                4-DEC-1985 09:26 
 Note 555.2           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               2 of 14 
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	    I sent Santa some private mail, telling him where to find
	them.  Maybe he'll deliver some to your house.
			 .-----.
			/  o o  \
			\ \___/ /
			 `-----'
			 <_Jym_>

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 STORK::HANAM                   Ask the Easynet                4-DEC-1985 12:29 
 Note 555.3           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               3 of 14 
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What is Santa's node?


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 WKRP::KIER                     Ask the Easynet                4-DEC-1985 13:53 
 Note 555.4           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               4 of 14 
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Santa has a cluster... He needs it for his large MRP system.

Send to FATHER_CHRISTMAS at {NPOLE,LAT90N,CLAUS,STNICK}.

:-)

	[} Mike {]


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 DELPHI::MALIK                  Ask the Easynet                4-DEC-1985 16:17 
 Note 555.5           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               5 of 14 
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	Please provide more info on Petster's capabilities.  Will
it wander around on its own?  Can it negotiate obstacles?  Avoid
falls?

	I first heard of this over a year ago and had since given
up hope they it would ever hit the marketplace.

	I remember being amused by a statement to the effect that
they were able to "implement 70% of the functionality of a real cat".


							- Karl

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 HANOI::CLARK                   Ask the Easynet                4-DEC-1985 18:30 
 Note 555.6           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               6 of 14 
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RE: .5

From a 15-minute demonstration by a Petster owner, I'll offer the following
observations on the Petster Deluxe:

    -  Has a "go play" mode where it randomly wanders and "talks".

    -  Can detect some (large) objects before hitting them and change
       direction.  If it hits something or tips forward or back, it backs
       up turns and tries again.  It can get confused by corners, chair
       legs and irregularly-shaped objects.

    -  "70% of the functionality of a real cat"?  Well, not really,
       although it does purr (electronically), turn itself off and on,
       respond to claps (and barking dogs!), and often has a mind of its
       own (just like a cat!).

-- Ward

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 AURORA::RAVAN                  Ask the Easynet                5-DEC-1985 09:56 
 Note 555.7           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               7 of 14 
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	I saw one of the "cat" models at The Sharper Image in Boston.
	(The store's in a new little plaza behind Quincy Market, along
	with such high-class toystores as Brookstones and Banana Republic.)
	The price at "Image" is probably higher than at Toys-R-Us, but
	it may be worth checking out.

	I will admit that I thought the little dickens was pretty cute,
	especially when I patted its head and it purred. Doesn't replace
	a real cat, but then again I bet it doesn't walk on your face at
	3 in the morning demanding to be fed...

	-b

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 GALAXY::MALIK                  Ask the Easynet                5-DEC-1985 14:41 
 Note 555.8           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               8 of 14 
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	Geez, now I want one.

	The idea of sitting around with friends when the thing
wanders in from some other room, bumps into a few things, and
then wanders out, sounds very funny.

	How does it avoid things?  By contact, or is it more
sophisticated than that?

							- Karl

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 ELUDOM::CLARK                  Ask the Easynet                5-DEC-1985 18:39 
 Note 555.9           -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-               9 of 14 
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RE: .8

The Petster Deluxe "sees" things in its way using an infrared or sonic
detector.  When this fails (as it often did the time I saw it), the Petster
bumps into the object, causing it to tip slightly.  This immediately (1/2
second) results in back-up, turn and try again.

The "go play" mode seems to be designed to keep the Petster in the current
room.  It goes only a few feet in any direction before stopping and turning.

Geez, I want one, too!   Help, PLEEEZ!!!

-- Ward

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 ELUDOM::CLARK                  Ask the Easynet                5-DEC-1985 19:01 
 Note 555.10          -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-              10 of 14 
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Success!!!  I just found a store that has 3 Deluxe Petsters in stock.
My name is on two of them (one for a co-worker).

Since I don't trust any of you out there, I won't report where the store
is located until I get home tonight.  Stay tuned!

-- Ward

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 BISON::PRIBORSKY               Ask the Easynet                5-DEC-1985 19:22 
 Note 555.11          -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-              11 of 14 
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Going tonight - Lionel Playworld (in Colorado Springs).   $49.97, I don't
think it's the deluxe version, though.

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 HARE::BUTENHOF                 Ask the Easynet                6-DEC-1985 08:02 
 Note 555.12          -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-              12 of 14 
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        The deluxe version is around $80 ($79.xx or some such), so
        $49.97 is unlikely to be it.

        The deluxe (as advertised in Sharper Image) has an infra-red
        nose for detecting obstacles, and "stereo hearing".  It has
        an LED collar which tells which mode it's in, and a remote
        control "leash" with arrow keys and some control buttons,
        to make it move, meow on command, etc.  It has "explore"
        mode, which will make it wander around, "play" mode, and
        a "sleep" mode where it'll just sit and rest until it hears
        something, wake up, meow and such until the noise stops (wonder
        if it can keep itself awake with it's meow?) and then go
        back to sleep.

        I think it'd be real fun to see how our cat would take to
        it...

        	/dave

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 ELUDOM::CLARK                  Ask the Easynet                6-DEC-1985 16:44 
 Note 555.13          -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-              13 of 14 
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RE: .10

In the time it took me to drive from Nashua, NH to Salem, NH (30-40 minutes),
the remaining Petster Deluxe at Service Merchandise had been sold.  A sales
clerk told me not to expect any more until after Christmas.  Sad news!

So far, the only stores that I know for certain have ever carried the Deluxe
are Service Merchandise (two locations) and Sears (Burlington, MA).  If you're
in the market, other branches of these two stores seem like a good bet.

-- Ward

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 NACHO::LINDQUIST               Ask the Easynet                7-DEC-1985 14:43 
 Note 555.14          -< Petster - this year's CP doll >-              14 of 14 
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There is a new SHARPER IMAGE store in Boston (as well as several other
location in the US).  The Boston store is in the Marketplace Shops
located behind (towards the harbor and expressway) Quincy Market.
You might call them.

	- Lee

I can't help thinking of the scene from Woody Allen's "Sleeper" where
'Rex', his 'watchdog' comes toddling into the room, mechanically 'woof,
woof'-ing. The man is obviously prescient.... ;-)

/Harry

I remember part of a radio (All Things Considered ?) interview show, where the 
interviewer was interviewing Busnell via phone, and describing what the 
Petster in the studio:

(electronic MEOWs, followed by a crash)

'Oh, it just fell off the table . . '

(hollow sounding electronic MEOWs)

'. . . now its spinning around in the wastebasket. . . '


Steve

...*just* like a real cat!

(our cats do that in laundry baskets, sometimes chasing their tails.)

--Louise

Exactly!  Mine like to sit in the laundry hamper, until I close the lid 
- then they want to get out.

Tom

To my great astonishment, my husband got me a Petster for Christmas. It's
kind of cute once you get the hang of the instruction set. I finally got
it to run into a paper bag that I'd put on the floor, and the little movements
it made from inside made the bag twitch and roll in a very entertaining manner.
Our cats were pretty leery of the thing at first, but calmed down later and
gave it a sniff or two; they don't think much of it, I guess.

But it won't jump up onto your lap...

-b

  We got a petster a couple of weeks before Christmas.  (a present to ourselves
and the cats.)
  The cats love it.  (AT least some of them do.)  Nazzie and Pip chase it
and play with its tail which wags enticingly.  Gandalf and Merry and Sam
alternately ignore it and play with it.  Cinnamon gave it a sniff and turned
his back on it.  Pip LOVES it.  He makes strafing runs through the room pausing
long enough to give it one whack.  For those of you who are not familiar
with it,  The petster will "Chase its tail" and then fall asleep if you don't
give it any commands for a while.  When it is "asleep" it is still on enough
that a clap will "wake it up " and get it ready for commands.  Interestingly
enough a tap on its back will accomplish the same thing as a clap.  I have
seen Pip walk up to the petster, wake it up, give it a pat to get it going
and then he starts his strafing runs.

 Great fun.

tlh

    
    
    
    CAN YOU GET THEM IN THE UK?
    
    HOW MUCH?
    
    WANT WANT WANT