Nabu computers are flooding the web. (Photo: Ebay/James Pellegrini)
Pallets of Nabu computers have breathed new life into the network. One day, the more than 2,000 machines appeared on Ebay, which drew the attention of Youtubers and forum users to the forgotten network.
A man named James Pellegrini kept around 2,200 Nabu computers in a barn for 33 years. However, there was now a risk of collapse, which is why Pellegrini had to relocate or get rid of the computers.
He decided to sell the computers on Ebay. In doing so, he triggered a hype about the machines that brought the network to new life, like Vice reported.
Nabu is a Canadian company that wanted to build a network of computers in 1983. It is a kind of Internet, but users could only connect to it with a Nabu computer.
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The network was originally intended for companies, but was later marketed to consumers as well. Users at the time didn’t really understand what the network was supposed to be good for.
Some games also ran on the Nabu computers. Despite this, the company did not succeed and went bankrupt.
Pellegrini studied computer science in the late 1980s and founded a company that provided small systems for niche use cases for other companies. He originally planned to develop and sell a corporate switchboard.
In doing so, he came across the Nabu bankruptcy sale and bought up all the computers he could get his hands on. However, he never developed the telephone system and the computers ended up in the barn untouched until he finally opened them up eBay sold for around $120 apiece.
The sale of the computers caused a stir in internet forums and YouTubers. That alone Video by Adrian Black via the Nabu computer was able to collect over 150,000 hits.
Now some users had Nabu computers again, but did not have the right software to use the network. DJ Sures decided to program a network adapter for the Nabu network, allowing the machines to connect to each other.
His father was involved in the development of the original Nabu computers. The software and all other information about the network are now available on the website of the Nabu RetroNet Preservation Projects accessible. This allows owners of the Nabu hardware to connect to each other and use the network again.